
Class r V\ Zj 74 - 



GQKRIGHT DEPOSm 



% 



American Citizens and 
Their Government 



BY 

KENNETH COLEGROVE 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, NORTHWESTERN 
UNIVERSITY 



s&EMnBaogw^ 




THE ABINGDON PRESS 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 

/ 



*** 






Copyright, 192 1, by 
KENNETH COLEGROVE 



FEB 18*22 



Printed in the United States of America 

©CU653856 



dedicated to 
Mrs. George Alexander McKinlock and 
a group op public-spirited women whose 
interest in the study of american gov- 
ernment led to the writing of this book : 

Mrs. John Borden 
Mrs. Walter S. Brewster 
Mrs. Marshall Field, 3D 
Mrs. George Higginson, Jr. 
Mrs. Morris Leidy Johnston 
Mrs. Howard Linn 
Mrs. Russell Lord 
Mrs. Arthur Meeker 
Mrs. Charles E. Perkins 
Mrs. Archie Roosevelt 
Mrs. Frederic W. Upham 
Mrs. Barrett Wendell, Jr. 
Mrs. Leonard Wood 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Origin of the American Government 13 

English origins — Union of the original States was 
inevitable — The constitutional convention of 1787 — 
The Fathers of the constitution — The compromises 
of the convention — Severe struggle to create the new 
Union — The accomplishment of the Fathers — Unjust 
criticism of the Fathers — Personal sacrifices of our 
early Presidents — Stability of the constitution. 

II. The National and State Constitutions 27 

The nature of the constitution — Written and un- 
written constitutions — The constitution is a grant of 
powers — Did the constitution create a national gov- 
ernment? — The supremacy of the national govern- 
ment — The System of Checks and Balances — The 
coordinate position of the Supreme Court — The ex- 
pansion of the constitution — Expansion of the con- 
stitution by usage — Expansion of the constitution by 
statutory law — Expansion by judicial interpretation 
— Expansion of the constitution by amendment — 
The liberal character of our constitutional develop- 
ment — The State constitutions — Comparison of the 
early constitutions with later constitutions — Framing 
the State constitutions — Amendments to State con- 
stitutions. 

III. Citizenship and Suffrage 51 

Nature of citizenship — The dual citizenship in the 
United States — The custom of modern nations as to 
citizenship — The alien and the acquisition of citizen- 
ship — Naturalization— The Americanization program — 
The alien in the United States — Immigration — Expul- 
sion of undesirable aliens — Some inconsistencies in 
our laws upon aliens — Racial problems in the United 

5 



6 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

States — Acquisition of citizenship by annexation — 
Rights and duties of citizenship — Civil rights — 
Political rights — Woman suffrage — The duties and 
obligations of citizenship. 



IV. Political Parties and Platforms 70 

The functions of the electorate — Permanency of 
political parties — History of our political parties — 
Washington's failure to prevent the growth of par- 
ties — The later history of political parties — Third- 
party movements — Organization of the national par- 
ties — The National Committee — The national chair- 
man — State and local committees — State and local 
politics — Organization of the State parties — The 
"machine" and the "boss" — Reasons for the exist- 
ence of political machines — American ideals in poli- 
tics. 



V. The President 93 

The election of the President — The present method 
of electing the President — (1) Selection of delegates 
to the nominating convention — (2) Work of the na- 
tional conventions — (3) Selection of the tickets of 
Presidential Electors — (4) The national campaigns 
and the November election — (5) Election of the 
President by the Electors — The powers and functions 
of the President — The strictly executive powers of 
the President — Diplomatic powers — Military powers 
— Legislative powers — Political powers — The Pres- 
ident's cabinet — Presidential succession. 

VI. Congress 117 

The functions of Congress — Sessions of Congress — 
The House of Representatives — The congressional 
districts — Qualifications for members in the House — 
The House is the judge of the qualifications of its 
members — Congressional elections — Organization of 
the House of Representatives — The committees of 
the House — Work of the committees — Bill procedure 



CONTENTS 7 

CHAPTER PAGE 

— The Senate — The election of Senators — Organiza- 
tion of the Senate — Freedom of debate in the Senate 
— Party control in the Senate — Powers and functions 
of the Senate — The legislative functions of the Sen- 
ate — Confirmation of appointments — Ratification of 
treaties — The power to try impeachments. 

VII. Administration of National Welfare 142 

The executive departments — Department of State 
— Department of the Treasury — Department of 
War — Department of Justice — Post Office Depart- 
ment — Department of the Navy — Department of the 
Interior — Department of Agriculture — Department 
of Commerce — Department of Labor — The federal 
boards and commissions — Director of the Budget — 
Interstate Commerce Commission— United States 
Railroad Labor Board — The Federal Reserve Board 
— The United States Shipping Board — Civil service. 



VIII. Problems of National Welfare 157 

Foreign relations — The Monroe Doctrine — America 
as a world power — National defense — The American 
Navy — Taxation and finance — Budgetary reform — 
Money and banking — The Federal Reserve Banks — 
Regulation of interstate commerce — Regulation of 
the railways — Conspiracies and unfair competition — 
Public health, safety and morals — Government and 
labor — Conservation of natural resources. 



IX. The Courts: National and State 179 

Organization and jurisdiction of the federal courts 
— Organization of the federal courts — Jurisdiction of 
the federal courts — The practice and procedure of 
the federal courts — Procedure in the Supreme Court 
— Prestige of the Supreme Court — Power to declare 
acts unconstitutional — Character of the justices of 
the Supreme Court — The State courts — The organi- 
zation of the State courts — Juvenile courts — Civil 



8 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

and criminal procedure — Civil procedure — Criminal 
procedure — Complaints against the jury system — 
Reform in civil and criminal procedure — Reform of 
criminal procedure — The selection and removal of 
judges. 

X. The State Governments: Governor and Legisla- 
ture 210 

The State governor — Powers of the Governor — 
(i) Executive powers — (2) Legislative powers — 

(3) General oversight of State administration — 

(4) Military powers — (5) Relations with the federal 
government and other State governments — (6) Social 
and ceremonial duties — State administration — The 
State legislatures — Criticism of our State legislatures 
— The initiative and referendum — Are the initiative 
and referendum satisfactory? — Reconstruction of 
State governments — Reorganization of the State 
legislatures — The Governor as a legislative leader — 
Readjustment of the relations of the Governor and 
the legislature — Budgetary reform — The reconstruc- 
tion of the administrative departments. 

XI. State Welfare and Administration 233 

The States and public welfare — Education — Voca- 
tional training — Public health — Charities and correc- 
tion — Business protection and regulation — Labor 
conditions — Military and police — Public property 
and the conservation of natural resources — Taxation 
and finance — Information concerning State govern- 
ments. 

XII. County and Rural Government 255 

Local government — Three types of local govern- 
ment in America — The county — The county board — 
Justice and police — Other officers of the county — 
County charter government — The township — State 
supervision of local government — Farm tenancy and 
rural credits. 



CONTENTS 9 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIII. City Government 269 

Reasons for the growth of American cities — Or- 
ganization of city government — The city and the 
State — Three types of city government — The mayor- 
and-council system — Defects of the mayor-and- 
council system — The commission form of government 
— The city-manager plan — City administration and 
welfare — City finance — Police administration — Fire 
protection — Public works — Public health and sanita- 
tion — Municipal housing — Public recreation and so- 
cial centers — Schools and libraries — Poor relief 
and charity — Public utilities — Municipal ownership 
— City planning. 

XIV. Tendencies in the Development of Our Govern- 

ment 296 

Tendencies revealed by these changes — The in- 
stinct of liberty — Overthrow of political adventurers 
— Economic and social evolution — All these tenden- 
cies operate together — Reaction against machine rule 
— Direct legislation — The recall — The Australian bal- 
lot — The primary — The short ballot — Nonpartisan 
reform in the cities — Enlarged activities of govern- 
ment — The model American citizen. 

Index 317 



PREFACE 

This book owes its immediate origin to a series of 
conferences or private lectures given to the group of 
public spirited women in Chicago whose names appear 
in the dedication. The material has, however, been 
worked over with a view to its presentation to the 
general public. In the rewriting, I have freely drawn 
upon my classroom lectures at Northwestern Univer- 
sity. The aim is to present in brief compass a general 
view of American government. The needs and inter- 
ests of the average American citizen and voter have 
been kept in mind. While the work cannot go into 
complete detail, nevertheless, it attempts to give a 
broad survey of the vital factors in our national, state, 
city, and town government. 

In the preparation of the text I have received the 
generous aid of David Maydole Matteson of Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts; Theodore Wesley Koch, li- 
brarian of Northwestern University; John Henry 
Wigmore, Dean of the Law School of Northwestern 
University; Chauncey Peter Colegrove, President of 
Upper Iowa University; of my colleague, Professor 
P. Orman Ray and of Professor Norman E. Richard- 
son, editor of the series in which this book appears. 

Evanston, Illinois, 
July 22, 192 1. 



II 



CHAPTER I 

ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

The United States is a group of commonwealths 
united in a federal government. These common- 
wealths, and the Union, are the product of many cen- 
turies of political experience. The original thirteen 
States were not the instantaneous creation of the 
American Revolution of 1776; and the federal con- 
stitution did not originate solely in the Constitutional 
Convention which met in Philadelphia in 1787. Glad- 
stone once enthusiastically called the American con- 
stitution "the most wonderful work ever struck off at 
a given time by the brain and purpose of man." But 
when the Fathers of 1787 patiently labored through- 
out a sultry summer in Independence Hall to draft a 
constitution which would bind the thirteen sovereign 
States into a more perfect Union, a century and a half 
of political experience in the art of colonial self- 
government, and more than ten centuries of English 
constitutional development entered into their delibera- 
tions. The constitution was a practical document. It 
produced no sudden break with the past. The new 
government was the logical outcome of previous po- 
litical lessons. 

ENGLISH ORIGINS 

The American Revolution of 1776 was in no sense 
a political upheaval such as the French Revolution. 
It was rather a civil war, Englishmen against English- 

13 



14 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

men. The English liberals in Parliament opposed the 
colonial policy of King George III and his party almost 
as bitterly as did the Americans. When the thirteen 
States declared their independence there was no sweep- 
ing abolition of existing political institutions. The 
new State governments were modeled upon colonial 
precedents. Connecticut and Rhode Island actually 
kept their royal constitutions until 1818 and 1842. 

The colonists had carried to America the rights of 
Englishmen. They had considered themselves as en- 
titled to these rights even when residing in a land 
across the seas, and the English law had recognized 
their claim. The great constitutional documents of 
British liberty, such as Magna Charta, the Petition of 
Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, and the Bill of Rights, 
are in a very large measure the foundations of our 
democracy. The framers of our State constitutions 
copied in many cases the exact wording of these char- 
ters of freedom. 

Under the colonial rule the government of the col- 
onies had been similar to that of Great Britain. The 
governors were the representatives of the crown; the 
colonial legislatures had a popular assembly like the 
British House of Commons; and the colonial courts 
administered the Common Law of England. After 
the break with England the new States retained these 
institutions almost intact; and even after the Declara- 
tion of Independence the English Common Law con- 
tinued to be administered in our courts. In fact, Eng- 
lish Common Law is the basis of the legal system 
which is practiced in our courts even in the present 
day. 

Union of the original States was inevitable. — 
The union of the thirteen States was inevitable. Com- 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 15 

mon birth, common ideals, common language and in- 
stitutions made such a union easy and convenient ; and 
national efficiency demanded it. Even in colonial 
times, attempts at confederation had been earnestly 
undertaken, and on one occasion actually consummated. 
As early as 1643 tne colonies of Massachusetts Bay, 
Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven had entered 
into a "league of friendship" for protection against 
the Indians. In 1696 William Penn urged a Congress 
for all the colonies; and Robert Livingston proposed 
a union in 170 1. In 1754 the celebrated Albany Con- 
gress proposed an elaborate plan for colonial union 
drawn up by Benjamin Franklin. The quarrel with 
the motherland led to the Stamp- Act Congress in 1765 
and the two Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775. 
Finally in 178 1, the Articles of Confederation and Per- 
petual Union were adopted and a loose confederacy of 
the States was thereby created. The central organ of 
government was Congress, in which each State, great 
and small, had an equal voice. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1 787 

The events leading up to the call of the Convention 
of 1787 are a familiar story in American history. As 
John Adams said, the federal constitution was wrung 
from the hearts of a reluctant people by the grinding 
necessities of the times. There were thirteen practi- 
cally separate and independent States. They were 
proud of their individuality, and they were excessively 
jealous of each other. The Revolutionary War had 
held them together when the enemy was in our land; 
but after victory was won political chaos began. The 
economic system was demoralized. New York and 
Connecticut were engaged in a tariff struggle, and 



16 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Virginia and Maryland were quarreling over the navi- 
gation of the Potomac. In 1786 Massachusetts was 
disturbed by Shays' s Rebellion, when an armed band 
of radicals defied the commonwealth. 

The Congress of the Confederation was deplorably 
weak. It lacked power to levy revenue. The central 
government was dependent upon contributions from 
the States. It lacked credit to borrow money. It had 
no power to regulate commerce and thus was unable 
to end the tariff disputes between the States. It had 
no efficient military power. In general, as Washington 
said, Congress was wanting in coercive power — the 
power to operate upon individuals. 

Washington, Hamilton, Madison, and other leading 
men were convinced that the financial and political 
disorder could be cured only by the creation of a 
stronger union. Their efforts in this direction re- 
sulted in the calling of a convention to meet in the 
month of May, 1787, in Philadelphia, for the purpose 
of proposing amendments to the Articles of Confedera- 
tion. All the States save Rhode Island appointed 
delegates. 

The Fathers of the constitution. — The delegates 
from the States came tardily to Philadelphia. Many 
of them were of the opinion that little good could be 
accomplished. All told there were fifty-five delegates. 
They were the ablest group of statesmen who had 
ever assembled upon American soil. Virginia sent the 
strongest delegation, including Washington, Madison, 
and Edmund Randolph. 

General Washington, who was chosen president of 
the convention, was at this time the foremost man in 
America, the undisputed leader, "first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.". 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ly 

Throughout the Revolutionary War he had served as 
commander-in-chief of the American army, without 
one cent of pay. With the coming of peace he had re- 
tired to his Virginia plantation and devoted his time 
to agriculture. Now, after scarcely three years of 
private life, he again was constrained by the critical 
condition of his country to sacrifice his personal in- 
clination to the service of the public. Although a man 
of few words, lacking in oratorical expression, and 
rather cold in bearing, Washington commanded an 
almost unparalleled respect from his contemporary 
fellow citizens. Older men trusted his sagacity and 
honesty, younger men delighted to place themselves 
under his orders, while all men, of every degree of in- 
telligence and station in life, were irresistibly at- 
tracted by qualities in his character which no biog- 
rapher has been able adequately to analyze. 

After a modest speech Washington took the chair. 
Close by the rostrum, in a seat where he could dis- 
tinctly hear all that was said, sat James Madison, who 
not only took a leading part in the debates, but also 
made full notes of the proceedings from day to day. 
Many years later these notes were published by order 
of Congress, as Madison's Journal, and they now sup- 
ply us with our best information upon the deliberations 
of the convention. Madison was a supporter of Wash- 
ington. He belonged to the younger generation of 
men who were proud to serve under their great chief, 
and yet whose learning, political sense, and rhetoric 
were indispensable contributions to the constitutional 
movement. In the construction of the great document 
which the convention gave to the American people 
Madison probably exerted more effective direction than 
any other man in the convention. 



1 8 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Alexander Hamilton represented New York. Al- 
though one of the youngest men in the convention — 
being then but thirty years of age — Hamilton was the 
most brilliant thinker and the most eloquent orator 
among the delegates there assembled. His passionate 
advocacy of a strong national government, however, 
was far too extreme for an occasion where unanimity 
could be obtained only by painstaking compromises. 
While the convention admired his abounding intelli- 
gence and his infallible logic, his words were less ef- 
fective than the persistent, watchful, unfailing tactics 
of James Madison. Benjamin Franklin, the most 
versatile genius of American history, although now 
feeble and bent with eighty-two years of active life, 
exerted a marked influence upon the convention. 
Other members of remarkable attainments were in at- 
tendance, whose presence alone in any other assembly 
would have added distinction. James Wilson, Robert 
Morris, Gouverneur Morris, besides Benjamin Frank- 
lin, represented Pennsylvania. Rufus King of Massa- 
chusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, William Pat- 
erson of New Jersey, and the Pinckneys of South Caro- 
lina were prominent in the debates. Characteristic of 
all assemblages, there were a few wordy obstructionists 
like Luther Martin, of Maryland, who caviled and ha- 
rangued for no other purpose than to delay the pro- 
ceedings. But the majority of the delegates were, 
as described by William Pierce, "respectable charac- 
ters'* who seldom spoke themselves, but who weighed 
the arguments of the more ready orators and influenced 
the decision of the issues by their votes. 

The compromises of the convention. — The advo- 
cates of a strong national government spent many 
anxious weeks before they were assured of any degree 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 19 

of success. The convention was full of conflicting 
interests and opinions, and agreement was reached only 
after the most painstaking compromises. In general, 
there were two opposing groups or parties. The small 
States opposed the large States, the one group desir- 
ing to keep the central government weak, the other 
wishing to strengthen it. Another alignment of oppos- 
ing interests was found between the agriculturists of 
the South and the commercial interests of the East. 

At the opening of the convention the Virginia dele- 
gation had presented a plan for a national government 
in which representation in Congress was to be propor- 
tional to the population of the States. In opposition 
to the Virginia plan, William Paterson introduced the 
New Jersey plan, which provided in effect for the 
practical continuance of the old Confederacy with an 
equal vote for every State. Fortunately, after several 
weeks of trying debates a compromise was effected be- 
tween the large and the small States whereby it was 
agreed that the new Congress should consist of two 
houses ; in the upper house every State, great or small, 
would have two votes, while in the lower house repre- 
sentation would be proportional to population. 

Then the Southern planters, fearing that the com- 
mercial States might use the national legislature to op- 
press the agricultural States, demanded that slaves be 
counted in the population for representation in Con- 
gress, while the free States opposed this claim of the 
South for increased political influence. At the same 
time the Eastern commercial interests demanded that 
Congress should have exclusive control of commerce 
with foreign nations and among the several States, 
while the Southern planters, fearing that the foreign 
trade in farm products might be injured by hostile in- 



20 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

terests in Congress, resisted the proposal. In the end, 
compromises were effected. It was agreed that three 
fifths of the slave population should be counted in the 
representation in Congress; and the exclusive control 
of foreign and interstate trade was given to Congress. 

Severe struggle to create the new Union. — 
These compromises were not easily reached. The con- 
flict of views and interests had been so sharp that at 
several stages of the business the convention was at 
the point of breaking up without accomplishing its 
purpose. At the height of the most depressing dead- 
lock Benjamin Franklin proposed that the convention 
should open each morning with prayers. Even upon 
the last day, when the constitution was reported in its 
final form, it was not certain that a majority of the 
delegates would be willing to attach their signatures. 
Washington and Franklin made appeals for unanimity 
and only three of the delegates then present refused to 
sign. On this memorable day Madison completed his 
notes with the following statement, which has become 
a classic anecdote in American literature: 

"Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor 
Franklin, looking toward the President's chair, at the 
back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, ob- 
served to a few members near him, that painters 
had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising 
from a setting sun. I have, said he, often and often 
in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my 
hopes and fears as to the issue, looked at that behind 
the President without being able to tell whether it 
was rising or setting: but now at length I have the 
happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting 
sun." 

The work of the convention was submitted to the 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 21 

Congress of the Confederation, and by that body re- 
ferred to the several States for ratification or rejec- 
tion. The new constitution had provided that the 
Union should be automatically established upon ratifi- 
cation by conventions in nine of the thirteen States. 
During the following year throughout the country the 
merits and defects of the proposed form of union were 
sharply debated. Public opinion divided into two 
parties, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, one 
urging the ratification of the constitution, the other op- 
posing its ratification. In general, the Southern plant- 
ers and the commercial interests, together with the sea- 
board districts of the States, favored the constitution, 
while the Yankee farmers and the back-country dis- 
tricts opposed it. The latter were incensed partly be- 
cause the Fathers, upon the assumption that the rights 
of citizens were already adequately safeguarded by 
the State constitutions, had included no Bill of Rights 
in the national constitution. This objection was met 
by the solemn promise of leading Federalists to co- 
operate in adopting a new Bill of Rights as an amend- 
ment to the constitution immediately after the estab- 
lishment of the Union. 

New Hampshire was the ninth State to ratify the 
constitution. Its convention voted in favor of ratifica- 
tion on June 21,1 788. Virginia also accepted the con- 
stitution a few days later, reaching this decision before 
the action taken by New Hampshire was known in the 
South, and New York soon followed. The expiring 
Congress of the Confederation thereupon ordered that 
the States should choose Presidential Electors to select 
the President and Vice-President in January, 1 789, 
and that a new Congress elected under the constitu- 
tion should meet on the fourth day of March. The 



22 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Presidential electors were duly chosen and selected 
General Washington as the first President. Congress- 
men were also duly elected, but a quorum of the two 
houses did not appear in New York, the temporary 
seat of government, until April, 1789. On the last day 
of this month Washington was inaugurated in Federal 
Hall in Wall Street; and the national government 
was at last established. 



THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE FATHERS 

The constitution under which the federal govern- 
ment was established in 1 789 was a practical, workable 
document. In planning for the new government the 
Fathers had followed methods which experience had 
tested. As James Russell Lowell has said, they knew 
better than to commit the folly of breaking with the 
past. Thus the new constitution, while creating a 
free and liberal government, was grounded upon prin- 
ciples which commended themselves to sane and level- 
headed men, men who had already learned that to 
govern well is not an easy task. 

Unjust criticism of the Fathers. — Of late years a 
bitter and unrelenting group of agitators have attacked 
the federal government and in particular the constitu- 
tion of the United States. One of their methods is to 
cast opprobrium upon the men who drafted this docu- 
ment in 1787. In attacking the personal character of 
the Fathers these calumniators hope to prove that our 
government rests upon a dishonest constitution. They 
contend that the constitution was adopted not to pro- 
mote the unalienable rights of man — life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness — which Jefferson desired, but 
to safeguard property as the main object of society, as 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 23 

Gouverneur Morris rather unfortunately remarked on 
the floor of the convention. 

But assaults upon the personal character and inter- 
ests of the Fathers are not sufficient proof that our 
constitution is dishonest. Little can be gained by at- 
tempting to show that Washington was a haughty, 
cynical, aristocratic old man, trembling with fears of 
slave insurrections or radical rebellions in Massa- 
chusetts. It is true that he was at that time the richest 
man in America, having an estate worth $530,000; it 
is also true that he had speculated in lands in the Ohio 
wilderness. But the possession of property is not pre- 
sumptive evidence of dishonesty; and it is interesting 
to note that at the time of the convention Washington, 
in spite of his many acres, was in financial embarrass- 
ment. In regard to Washington's speculations in Ohio 
lands, all sensible persons will admit that the growth 
of the West in population and prosperity was partly 
due to the willingness of far-sighted men, like Wash- 
ington, to risk their capital in pioneer developments. 
As to the insinuations that Washington speculated in 
continental currency and hoped for a strong national 
government for the redemption of this paper money, 
an examination of the Washington Papers preserved 
in the Library of Congress has proved these charges 
to be utterly false. 

Similar indictments against the character and mo- 
tives of Madison, Hamilton, and others are likewise 
worthless. The Convention of Philadelphia was not 
preeminently an assembly of rich men. It was an 
assembly of brilliant public leaders, of sound practical 
men, and of men who had sacrificed much for the com- 
mon welfare. While some members possessed con- 
siderable property, and while some had always been 



24 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

what we may call aristocrats, there were other mem- 
bers, like Roger Sherman of Connecticut, who was a 
shoemaker in early life, but who diligently applied 
himself to the study of law and in time became a judge 
of the superior court, and as a representative of Con- 
necticut had the unique distinction of signing the 
Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Con- 
federation, and the Constitution of the United States. 

Personal sacrifices of our early Presidents. — 
Far from enhancing their material goods by the crea- 
tion of the Union, the Virginian planters soon found 
themselves in financial straits. The adoption of the 
constitution ruined the personal fortunes of the South- 
ern landowners. The story of the decay of this ancient 
aristocracy belongs to the realm of economic history. 
It is sufficient here to say that the commercial powers 
of Congress under the new constitution were exercised 
in the manner feared by the Southern agriculturalists 
in the convention, and partly, although by no means 
entirely, because of this fact the rich plantations of the 
seaboard and Piedmont area relapsed into "galled and 
gullied hillsides and sedgy briary fields." 

Four of our Presidents in the first four decades of 
our national history came from Virginia and in a 
measure were victims of this economic decay. Wash- 
ington retired after his second term in office, disap- 
pointed and dejected because of his failure to govern 
the United States without the bitter strife of political 
parties, and took up the management of his plantation, 
already fallen into disrepair. In 1809 Jefferson retired 
to Monticello, a humiliated and weary man. His lavish 
hospitality in the White House and neglect of his 
private estate had brought him to financial ruin, and 
his friends in pity attempted to induce the legislature 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 25 

of Virginia to permit a lottery in his benefit. James 
Madison, after eight years service as President of the 
United States, returned to his plantation, which had 
fallen into ruin. He vainly attempted to borrow a few 
thousand dollars at a Philadelphia bank, offering his 
plantation as security; and he died in straitened cir- 
cumstances. Monroe at the end of his administration 
was forced to give up his Virginia home and accept in 
his old age the hospitality of a relative in New York. 
The personal sacrifices of these great statesmen is one 
of the beautiful things in American history. 

Stability of the constitution. — Of course the worth 
of the constitution to-day is not to be measured alone 
by the character of the men who made it. The con- 
stitution as it is interpreted in the present age is a very 
different document from that created by the Fathers. 
The essential virtue of the constitution has been its 
adaptability to changing conditions in our national 
progress. It has furnished the basis for a progressive 
and advancing — and hence enduring — government. 
This stability in our fundamental law has infinitely 
promoted the happiness and prosperity of our country. 
Under weak and precarious governments human enter- 
prise is shackled by timidity and uncertainty. But 
under stable and consistent governments men are free 
to test the utmost possibilities of human genius in art 
and industry and social welfare. 

Fortunate it is that the Fathers were practical men. 
In a convention which consumed a little over three 
months time they drafted a constitution which has en- 
dured a hundred and thirty years. In the same year 
that the federal government was established in New 
York, Jefferson, our ambassador at Paris, watched the 
opening debates of the celebrated National Assembly 



26 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

which was attempting to build a constitutional govern- 
ment for France. After two years of excited and im- 
practical debate on theoretical questions a constitution 
was promulgated. This constitution endured for 
scarcely a year. Since 1789 France has had a dozen 
different constitutions ; while Spain, which adopted its 
first constitution in 18 12, has overturned its constitu- 
tion upon five different occasions. There is no Euro- 
pean constitution, in written form, which has endured 
as long as that of America. 

For Further Reading 

Colonial and English Origins. — A. B. Hart, Ac- 
tual Government f pp. 39-48; H. J. Ford, Rise and Growth 
of American Politics, ch. i ; C. A. Beard, American Gov- 
ernment and Politics, ch. i; S. G. Fisher, Evolution of 
the Constitution of the United States, ch. i ; W. B. Munro, 
Government of the United States, ch. i. 

The Common Law. — C. A. Beard, American Govern- 
ment and Politics, pp. 553-555 ; O. W. Holmes, Common 
Law, ch. i; Art. on "Common Law" in Bouvier's Law 
Dictionary. 

The Constitutional Convention of 1787. — John 
Fiske, Critical Period of American History, ch. vi ; Max 
Farrand, Framing of the Constitution, pp. 68-112; W. M. 
Meigs, Growth of the Constitution in the Federal Conven- 
tion of 1787, pp. 1 1 -$5; Writings of James Madison 
[Edited by Gaillard Hunt], III, pp. 1-22; 164-181 ; IV, 
pp. 472-483; Jonathan Elliot, Debates on the Federal 
Constitution, I, pp. 139-145. 

Work of the Fathers. — H. C Lodge, George Wash- 
ington, II, pp. 29-39 ; Jared Sparks, George Washington, 
ch. xxxiii; Gaillard Hunt, James Madison, pp. 108-136; 
James Parton, Benjamin Franklin, II, pp. 564-584 ; H. C. 
Lodge, Alexander Hamilton, pp. 56-64; Theodore Roose- 
velt, Gouverneur Morris, ch. vi. 



CHAPTER II 

THE NATIONAL AND STATE 
CONSTITUTIONS 

In the words of American jurists the constitution 
of the United States is the "supreme law of the land." 
It is the fundamental document establishing our form 
of national government and determining the relations 
of this government to the State governments. In 
other words, the constitution creates a political system, 
and distributes powers between the central govern- 
ment and the State governments. It also defines the 
rights and obligations of citizens, protecting them on 
the one side from the federal government and on the 
other side from the State governments. 

The constitution is the ultimate law of the United 
States from which there is no appeal. It is the organic 
expression of the political will of our country. When 
reading the constitution one may feel that he is face 
to face with the American people. 

THE NATURE OF THE CONSTITUTION 

Notwithstanding the fundamental character of the 
constitution, it is a very short document, being only a 
few pages in length, and requiring only a few minutes 
to read. 1 Various European observers have been as- | 
tounded by the fact that a government so great as ours 

* In its most convenient form, perhaps, it can be found in a little pamphlet pub- 
lished by the Government Printing Office, which may be purchased for five cents 
by sending the amount in coin or a money order to the Superintendent of Public 
Documents at Washington, D. C. 

27 



28 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

should rest upon a constitutional document so remark- 
ably brief. But a careful study of American history 
shows that the brevity of our constitution is one of its 
most admirable qualities. In concise and logical sen- 
tences, gracefully and masterfully expressed, the 
Fathers outlined the main features of our political sys- 
tem. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the men 
of 1787 used words and phrases which permit a liberal 
construction as to their meaning. The grants of power 
to Congress and the President are not hedged about 
with lengthy exceptions and restrictions which would 
stifle the spirit of progressive interpretation. Hence 
the constitution has been easily adapted from decade 
to decade to the needs of the country, with the result 
that there has been a stability and endurance in our 
constitutional life which has been beneficial in the 
highest degree. 

Written and unwritten constitutions. — Our con- 
stitution, as we have just seen, is a written document. 
England, on the other hand, has an unwritten consti- 
tution. No fundamental state paper sums up the Brit- 
ish constitution. It is contained in a vast accumulation 
of ancient charters, acts of Parliament, and decisions of 
courts, which if collected together even in part would 
fill an astonishing number of volumes. The British 
constitution is an admirable political growth; British 
freedom, as Tennyson well said, has "broadened down 
from precedent to precedent" through ten or more cen- 
turies of almost uninterrupted continuity. An act of 
Parliament may change any part of the British con- 
stitution at any time. 

The constitution is a grant of powers. — Chief 
Justice Marshall in the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden 
spoke of the constitution as a grant of powers. This 



CONSTITUTIONS 29 

grant of powers was to the central or national govern- 
ment. No grant of powers was made to the State 
governments. At the time that the Constitutional Con- 
vention met, the thirteen original States were sover- 
eign and independent; they possessed all the powers 
of sovereign and independent nations, save for the 
few meager powers which had been granted by them 
to the Congress of the Confederation. 

The federal constitution of 1787 granted no new 
powers to the State governments. On the contrary, 
it took certain powers away from the States and gave 
these powers to the central government. For instance, 
one of the compromises in framing the constitution 
resulted in the provision giving Congress the power 
to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among 
the several States. At the same time the exercise of 
these powers was prohibited to the States. 

It is readily seen in our own day that the sovereign 
independence of the States was really abrogated by 
the adoption of the constitution. This fact was not, 
however, so clearly understood in the first decades of 
our national history, and it caused considerable con- 
fusion, as we shall presently explain. For the moment 
we must note that the powers not granted in the con- 
stitution to the central government were tacitly re- 
served to either the people of the States or to the 
States. To clear up any doubt upon this matter, the 
Tenth Amendment, adopted in 1791, read: "The 
powers not delegated to the United States by the con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are re- 
served to the States respectively, or to the people." 
Such powers are called "residual powers." 

Did the constitution create a national govern- 
ment? — To-day there is no hesitation in saying that 



30 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the constitution has created a national government. 
Whenever we speak of the government at Washington 
we think of a government of the American people and 
not of a government representing an aggregate of 
States. But this view was not the prevailing opinion 
from 1789 to 1865. While Madison and other mem- 
bers in the Constitutional Convention spoke of the 
national government, the term "federal" came to be 
more generally used. The theory was that the new 
constitution created a federal republic, wherein for- 
merly independent States merged their sovereignties 
in a central government without losing their identities 
or many of their former powers. It can readily be 
seen that this theory was always in danger of being 
upset, on the one hand by the Union-men and on the 
other hand by the advocates of State's Rights. For 
nearly seventy years the theory was the battlefield of 
American politics. Webster and Clay, Calhoun and 
Haynes debated the question back and forth in the 
Senate. Not until the end of the Civil War was the 
dispute finally settled in favor of the Union-men. The 
term "federal" in reference to our central government 
continued to be used in preference to the more correct 
term "national." Thus we speak even to-day of the 
federal constitution, or the federal powers, although 
this term has long since lost its original significance. 

The supremacy of the, national government. — 
When that gallant soldier, General Robert E. Lee, sur- 
rendered at Appomattox Court House and the great- 
hearted General Grant courteously declined to take his 
sword, one phase of the struggle between the States 
and the nation came to an end. The claim of the 
States to the right of forcible resistance to the acts of 
the central government was swept away. The shibbo- 



CONSTITUTIONS 31 

leth of State's Rights abruptly disappeared, and in a 
surprisingly short time even the most Southern South 
lost its fear of centralization. In the meantime the 
enormous economic development of the United States 
compelled the national government to expand its 
powers of control and regulation into fields where its 
presence necessarily displaced the competing State gov- 
ernments. The States made a dismal failure of the at- 
tempt to regulate the railways and the federal govern- 
ment was compelled to undertake this task by virtue 
of the powers concerning interstate commerce granted 
in the constitution. Local inspection of meat-packing 
and of the manufacture of food-stuffs was inadequate 
to the needs of the day and the federal government was 
under the necessity of entering another zone of govern- 
ment regulation. Every year following the Civil War 
has witnessed new accessions to the functions exer- 
cised by the central government. Several of the later 
amendments to the constitution have added more 
power to the federal government and subtracted from 
the powers of the States. Reformers are constantly 
agitating for more amendments to put still other 
powers into the hands of the federal authorities for 
the sake of securing greater uniformity of our laws 
throughout the Union. 

How far this centralization will continue is a diffi- 
cult matter to foretell. Few will deny that the su- 
premacy of the nation has not been for the good of the 
country as a whole. Some would go so far as to hope 
that the States may become in the future mere admin- 
istrative units, their boundary lines having but a sen- 
timental or traditional significance. Others contend 
that the secret of the success of a democratic form of 
government over so wide an area as the United States 



32 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

consists in maintaining a proper balance between the 
powers of the States and those of the nation and that 
not only should matters of local concern be left to the 
States, but also that there should be some opportunity 
for the legal enactment of local differences of opinion. 
In general, we may conclude that in all matters 
wherein varying local decisions will not conflict with 
the welfare of the whole country, freedom of action 
may well remain with the States. But local and pro- 
vincial interests and attitudes should not be permitted 
to stand in the way of national progress. 

THE SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES 

The Fathers were under the impression that the 
liberty of the individual could be preserved only by 
maintaining a separation of the three departments 
of government — the legislative, executive and ju- 
dicial. The legislature was to make the laws, the ex- 
ecutive was to enforce the laws, and the judiciary was 
to protect the rights of individuals under the laws. But, 
on the other hand, no department was to be entirely in- 
dependent of the others. Thus the Fathers provided 
that, while Congress should make laws, and the Presi- 
dent execute laws, nevertheless the President may 
veto a bill of Congress, while Congress may pass the 
bill over his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. 
On the other hand the House of Representatives may 
impeach the President before the Senate, which by a 
vote of two thirds may remove him from office. The 
Supreme Court, while judging the rights of citizens 
under the law, is composed of judges appointed by the 
President with the consent of the Senate, although 
these judges when once appointed may not be removed 
for political reasons. Thus each department of our 



CONSTITUTIONS 33 

.national government balances and checks the other 
departments and is balanced and checked in its turn. 

The coordinate position of the Supreme Court. — 
While the System of Checks and Balances has required 
some modification in respect to the relations of the 
President and Congress, the position of independence 
of the Supreme Court has proved eminently wise and 
satisfactory. Although there is no other court in the 
world which enjoys the unique position of our Su- 
preme Court, it is incorrect to claim that the "doctrine 
of judicial supremacy" is a part of our political sys- 
tem. The Supreme Court has no supremacy; there is 
no superiority of it over Congress or the President. 
The federal judiciary does not have the power to 
"nullify" laws. This is a popular misconception due 
to an inaccurate use of words. It may declare an act 
of Congress to be unconstitutional and hence null and 
void. But an act of Congress which is in conflict with 
the constitution was at no time law, although tem- 
porarily enforced by the President. 

The power of the federal courts to pass upon the 
constitutionality of the acts of Congress is not ex- 
pressly stated in the constitution. It is, however, clearly 
implied in the language of Article iii, section 2, and 
Article vi, section 2. The Supreme Court first asserted 
this right in the celebrated case of Marbury vs. Madi- 
son in 1803. Before leaving office, John Adams, the 
last Federalist President, had appointed John Marshall 
as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall and 
Thomas Jefferson, the first Democratic President, were 
bitter enemies; and in the case concerning the "mid- 
night appointments" of President Adams, the Chief 
Justice deliberately made a judicial pronouncement for 
the confusion of Thomas Jefferson, to wit: that the 



34 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Supreme Court had the power to declare null and void 
any act of Congress which was in conflict with the con- 
stitution. 

Of course Jefferson was greatly chagrined because 
of the opinion of Marshall in the case of Marbury vs. 
Madison, and he denied the power of the judiciary to 
pass on the constitutionality of acts of Congress. But 
the Supreme Court has since that day vigorously ex- 
ercised this function ; and its right to do so is now un- 
questioned. Never has this peculiar power proved a 
menace to the American people, but, rather, it has been 
a great blessing, partly because the Supreme Court 
has usually given a liberal and progressive interpreta- 
tion to the words of the constitution whenever such an 
interpretation was possible, and partly because of the 
eminent juristic character of the men who have been 
appointed to the bench. 

Far from being absolutely independent of the Presi- 
dent and Congress the Supreme Court is intimately de- 
pendent on both. Under the constitution, Congress 
has power to establish or abolish all the inferior courts 
necessary for the expedition of business before the Su- 
preme Court. The judges are appointed by the Presi- 
dent by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
and in the course of his administration the President 
by appointing new men to the vacancies caused by 
death or resignation may materially change the com- 
plexion of the federal judiciary. All judges may be 
removed by impeachment before the Senate for reason 
of unfair or immoral conduct; and three times in our 
history, the judges of inferior federal courts have been 
so removed. Finally, the President is, as the lawyers 
express it, not amenable to judicial process. In 1807, 
when Aaron Burr was being tried for treason, Chief 



CONSTITUTIONS 35 

Justice Marshall, who was not adverse to embarrassing 
Jefferson, issued a subpoena directing the President to 
appear in court and bring with him a letter from Gen- 
eral Wilkinson. President Jefferson refused to appear 
or to produce the letter, and Justice Marshall was com- 
pelled to admit practically that he could not serve a 
compulsory process upon the President of the United 
States, for that officer as commander-in-chief of the 
army controlled the force upon which the ultimate ex- 
ecution of all governmental decision must depend. 

THE EXPANSION OF THE CONSTITUTION 

The Fathers never intended to bind coming genera- 
tions of Americans by immutable rules of government. 
They wisely foresaw that future years would bring 
changing political and social conditions. And with 
the changing conditions would come the need of new 
rules for new governmental activities. Indeed, one 
great statesman of America proposed that at the end 
of every fifty years there should be a total revision of 
all laws. 

Hence the Fathers included in the constitution a 
provision for its amendment. In Article v it was pro- 
vided that two thirds of both houses of Congress may 
propose amendments which shall become fundamental 
law if they are ratified by the legislatures of three 
fourths of the States or by State conventions. Fur- 
thermore, on application of the legislatures of two 
thirds of the States, Congress shall call a constitutional 
convention for proposing amendments which shall be- 
come fundamental law when ratified by the legislatures 
of three fourths of the several States or by State con- 
ventions. 

It has appeared to some critics that our amending 



36 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

process is somewhat laborious, and they have compared 
us unfavorably with England in this respect, holding 
that because of the unlimited power of Parliament, the 
British constitution is flexible, easily amended, and 
hence progressive; while the American constitution is 
rigid, seldom amended and ultra-conservative. This 
comparison, however, is hardly justified, because dur- 
ing the past hundred and thirty years our constitution 
has developed in other ways than by the amending 
process of Article v. Lord Bryce tells the amusing 
story of an intelligent Englishman who having heard 
that the Supreme Court was created to protect the 
constitution and had authority to annul acts of the 
legislature contrary to it, spent two days in reading the 
constitution up and down for the purpose of finding 
the provisions which he had been told to admire! 
Great constitutional changes have occurred in America 
without altering one word of the written constitution, 
and in reality the student of American government 
soon learns that the fundamental law of the United 
States must be sought in many other sources than the 
few pages of the constitution of 1787. Our govern- 
ment has been greatly modified by methods altogether 
outside of the amending process. In general, there 
have been four ways in which our constitution has de- 
veloped or expanded: (1) by usage, (2) by statutory 
law, (3) by judicial interpretation, and (4) by amend- 
ment. 

Expansion of the constitution by usage. — The 
Fathers would be astonished to find to-day how ex- 
tensively the government which they set up in 1 789 has 
been modified by usage and custom. Through the prac- 
tices of political parties alone an almost complete 
revolution of our national system has occurred. For 



CONSTITUTIONS 37 

example, the Fathers drafted the constitution with the 
deliberate purpose of discouraging the existence of 
political parties ; but shortly after the establishment of 
the federal government parties became one of the es- 
sential features of our political life. In the mode of 
electing our President the Fathers provided for indi- 
rect selection. Every four years in each State, Presi- 
dential Electors were to be appointed. The Presidential 
Electors were to meet in the capitals of their respective 
States and after due deliberation were to cast their 
votes for the best statesman in America. The indirect 
method as originally provided is still retained, but 
really the people themselves now elect the President, 
since the various political parties nominate tickets of 
Presidential Electors, who everybody knows will vote 
for the party candidates. 

The powers of the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, the committee system in Congress, and the 
custom of "senatorial courtesy'* are other usages which 
have grown up during the last one hundred and thirty 
years. All of them are developments in our govern- 
ment. None of them appear in our written constitu- 
tion, either in the original itself or in the amendments. 
Some time in the future they may be incorporated in 
the written document as amendments. But even as 
they are, they should be considered as a part of our 
frame of government. 

Expansion of the constitution by statutory law. — 
The constitution, as we have said, is a short document. 
It prescribes many broad principles of government, and 
then leaves the details to be filled out by Congress, the 
President, the judiciary, or even the State legislatures. 
Strictly speaking, both the principles and the details 
ought to be called constitutional law. For example, 



38 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the constitution provides that in case of the removal 
of the President from office or of his death, resigna- 
tion, or inability to discharge the powers of this office, 
the same shall devolve upon the Vice-President. And 
in the case of the inability of the Vice-President, Con- 
gress shall by law provide for a successor. In pursu- 
ance of this power, Congress has accordingly by statu- 
tory act fixed the order of presidential succession in 
the Cabinet officers in order of their rank. Again in 
the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Judicial Code of 
191 1, Congress completed by statutory acts provisions 
of the constitution left to the discretion of Congress. 
Finally, as new conditions have appeared, Congress 
has created new governmental agencies concerning 
which the constitution has no specific provision what- 
ever. Among such agencies are the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission, the Federal Reserve Board and 
the Federal Trade Commission, about which we will 
have something to say in a later chapter. 

Expansion by judicial interpretation. — The consti- 
tution has also been expanded by judicial interpreta- 
tion. It is the business of the courts to interpret and 
apply the law to particular cases. But interpretation 
may often result in giving a new meaning to words and 
phrases, and fortunately the Supreme Court has ex- 
panded the meaning of the constitution far beyond the 
original intentions of the Fathers. 

This expansion of the constitution has largely oc- 
curred through a wide use of the Doctrine of Implied 
Powers. This doctrine was most clearly stated at an 
early date by Alexander Hamilton in his famous 
opinion upon the constitutionality of the United States 
Bank, drawn up for the guidance of President Wash- 
ington, and it was vigorously applied by Chief Justice 



CONSTITUTIONS 39 

Marshall in the formative period of our national de- 
velopment. This doctrine asserts that although the 
constitution is a grant of enumerated powers, yet these 
powers are not described in detail; hence it is proper 
to construe the government's powers as not simply 
those expressed in the constitution but also as all those 
powers which are necessary and proper for the effective 
exercise of the expressed powers. These necessary and 
proper powers are called "implied powers," as their 
existence is to be implied from the grant of the ex- 
pressed powers. 

One of the fields of the constitution which has been 
expanded by liberal interpretation is that of the power 
of Congress over interstate trade. The constitution 
provided that Congress shall have power to "regulate 
commerce with foreign nations and among the several 
States." But what does the term "commerce" include? 
And what does the verb "to regulate" mean? The Su- 
preme Court was called upon to define these terms in 
1824, in the celebrated case of Gibbons vs. Ogden. 
This case came on appeal from the State courts of New 
York. Ogden had filed a bill in equity asking for an 
injunction to restrain Gibbons from operating a ferry 
between the New Jersey shore and New York City, 
claiming that the legislature of New York had given 
Robert Fulton, the inventor, a monopoly of the right 
to navigate steamboats in the rivers and harbors of 
New York, and that he, Ogden, had acquired by pur- 
chase all the rights of Robert Fulton. The com- 
plainant alleged that Gibbons, in operating his ferry 
from the New Jersey shore, violated the monopoly 
granted by the State legislature. In this case the Su- 
preme Court found it necessary to decide whether or 
not navigation was included in the term "commerce." 



40 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

And it was also necessary to decide whether the phrase 
"to regulate" implied that Congress had the exclusive 
power to regulate. On both of these issues the Court 
decided in the affirmative. Commerce was held to in- 
clude navigation; and Congress was held to have ex- 
clusive power to regulate interstate commerce. The 
monopoly granted by the State legislature was held to 
be an interference with the powers of Congress and 
was therefore null and void, while Gibbons was per- 
mitted to operate his ferry without further hindrance. 
The interesting case which we have just described 
illustrates the manner whereby the constitution has 
been expanded by the interpretation of the courts. 
The method of procedure has been practical and based 
upon common sense. Thus the regulation of com- 
merce has been extended to cover all the new inventions 
in the rapidly changing industrial world. The Fathers 
never dreamed of the wonderful mechanical devices 
which would open up our country to trade and indus- 
try. Twenty years after the sitting of the Philadel- 
phia Convention, Robert Fulton tested his steamboat, 
the Clermont, on the Hudson River, and, to the amaze- 
ment of the onlookers, it made headway against the 
current at the rate of four miles an hour. In 1828 the 
construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway was 
begun. Transportation by steam has been the most 
important feature in the development of economic re- 
sources. Since the beginning of railways, the tele- 
graph and telephone have appeared; and, at a later 
date, pipe-lines for transportation of oil across the 
continent, and aeroplane transportation. The com- 
merce powers of Congress have been interpreted as 
extending to the regulation of all these inventions 
when applied to interstate trade. 



CONSTITUTIONS 41 

Expansion of the constitution by amendment. — 

In the last place the constitution has been expanded by 
amendment, as provided for under Article v. The 
method employed is that of proposal by Congress and 
ratification by the State legislatures. Very few amend- 
ments proposed by Congress have failed of ratification 
by three fourths of the States. In all there have been 
nineteen amendments. The first ten were adopted in 
1 79 1 as a Bill of Rights, guaranteeing certain rights 
of citizens against the encroachment of the federal 
government. The Eleventh, adopted in 1798, pro- 
hibits citizens from suing a State in the federal courts. 
This amendment is one of the landmarks in the strug- 
gle between the nation and the States, which we have 
already described. The Twelfth Amendment was 
ratified in 1804, as a result of the election of both 
Jefferson and Burr to the Presidency in 1800. It re- 
quires that the Presidential Electors must designate in 
their ballots the names of the men they wish as Presi- 
dent and as Vice-President. The Thirteenth, Four- 
teenth, and Fifteenth Amendments are the so-called 
Civil War amendments, being ratified in 1865, 1868, 
and 1870. During the next forty-three years no 
amendments were made to the constitution, but in 1913 
a series of progressive amendments appear. The Six- 
teenth Amendment gives Congress the power to tax 
incomes without apportionment among the States ; the 
Seventeenth provides for direct election of Senators; 
the Eighteenth for prohibition ; and the Nineteenth for 
woman suffrage. It is perhaps not too much to say 
that William Jennings Bryan, the thrice defeated 
Democratic candidate for President, was more in- 
fluential than any other man in promoting the adoption 
of the last four amendments to the constitution. Thus 



42 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

while Mr. Bryan has never succeeded in becoming 
President, he has nevertheless contributed much to 
change the form of our government. The ratification 
of the Nineteenth Amendment was the culmination of 
the movement for woman suffrage which began long 
before the Civil War. In 1848 Lucretia Mott issued a 
call for the first national convention upon woman 
suffrage to meet at Seneca Falls, New York. During 
the following years the movement slowly gained head- 
way, until in 19 12 the Progressive Party included this 
issue in its presidential platform. Finally in the sum- 
mer of 1919 Congress by a two thirds vote of both 
houses passed a resolution submitting the so-called 
Susan B. Anthony Amendment to the States for rati- 
fication. In August, 1920, the legislatures of three 
fourths of the States had ratified the amendment, and 
it thereby became a part of the constitution. 

The liberal character of our constitutional de- 
velopment. — The expansion of the constitution in the 
four methods which we have just described has meant 
a broadening and liberalizing of our government. The 
suffrage has been extended; the election of Senators 
has been put in the hands of the people as well as the 
election of President in all but form; the government 
has been made more democratic. Another tendency 
has appeared in late years, namely, to make the gov- 
ernment more simple and efficient — to eliminate the in- 
consistencies, to reduce the unnecessary political 
agencies, to lessen the friction between the nation and 
the States, and between the executive and the legisla- 
tive departments, to introduce good business methods 
into our political system. The democratization of our 
government has been carried, theoretically at least, to 
a very high degree. But our democracy will prove a 



CONSTITUTIONS 43 

failure unless a corresponding degree of efficiency and 
responsibility can be maintained, and thus constitu- 
tional amendments which make for more efficient and 
responsible government are to be welcomed. 

In the words of Washington's Farewell Address : 
"The basis of our political systems is the right of the 
people to make and to alter their constitutions of gov- 
ernment. But the constitution which at any time exists 
till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the 
whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The 
very idea of the power and the right of the people to 
establish government, presupposes the duty of every 
individual to obey the established government." 

THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS 

Like the federal government, the State governments 
derive their authority from constitutions. In the Revo- 
lutionary War each of the thirteen original States 
adopted a frame of government, except Connecticut 
and Rhode Island, which continued to use their co- 
lonial charters as State constitutions. New Hamp- 
shire was the first of the States to adopt a constitution, 
taking this step as early as January 5, 1776. Virginia 
and Pennsylvania also adopted constitutions in 1776. 
The constitution of Massachusetts was not framed 
until 1 780, but the work was so well done that with the 
exception of amendments from time to time it remains 
as the fundamental law of that commonwealth even 
to this day. 

When the thirteen States entered the Union each 
State retained its constitution, the only change being 
that any part of a State constitution which was in 
conflict with the federal constitution became automati- 
cally void. Since 1789 the States have been free to 



44 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

amend or to revise their constitutions. All States have 
used this right, some of them many times. Constitu- 
tional progress is a prime necessity in State govern- 
ments as well as in the national government, and the 
amendment of constitutions has indicated a healthy 
growth in our republican institutions. 

Comparison of the early constitutions with later 
constitutions. — -The first State constitutions were 
very short documents. The New Hampshire "form of 
government" in 1776 contained only nine hundred 
words. The first Virginian constitution was less than 
fifteen hundred words long. All of these early con- 
stitutions, in a few well-chosen words, provided for a 
framework of government. They were an epitome of 
colonial political experience. They also drew a sharp 
line between constitutional law and statutory law. 

The later constitutions, especially those adopted in 
the last two decades, are comparatively long and de- 
tailed. Oklahoma ratified a constitution in 1907 which 
contained fifty thousand words. Many of these new 
constitutions, as Chief Justice Taft has pointed out, 
break down the American distinction between consti- 
tutional and statutory law; they contain a mass of law 
which more properly should be enacted by the legisla- 
ture rather than by the constitutional convention. The 
Oklahoma constitution, for instance, contains a code 
of law on corporations. Such procedure is really harm- 
ful; for constitutions are generally more difficult of 
amendment than are statutory laws ; and, thus, shackles 
are inadvertently placed upon both the legislatures and 
the courts. When economic and social conditions are 
rapidly changing, a mass of constitutional details be- 
comes an impediment to progress. A constitution 
should be limited to a statement of the principles of 



CONSTITUTIONS 45 

government and of the distribution of powers. It 
should never contain policies of government. Hence, 
the attempt of the Oklahoma people to regulate busi- 
ness by constitutional law rather than by statutory law 
is not wholly fortunate. 

Framing the State constitutions. — Some of the 
earlier State constitutions were framed by the State 
legislatures. But all later constitutions have been 
framed by special bodies called constitutional conven- 
tions. 

A constitutional convention, while organized some- 
what like a legislature, is considerably different from 
such a body. While our State legislatures are divided 
into two chambers (an upper house and a lower 
house), a constitutional convention is unicameral. It 
is a deliberative nonpartisan assembly. A greater free- 
dom of debate than obtains in our legislatures is de- 
sirable, and hence the ordinary rules for preventing 
obstructive tactics may be omitted. The business of 
a convention is to construct or reconstruct the form of 
government and to distribute the powers of govern- 
ment. It is a process of building for the future. Hence 
a higher type of citizen is attracted to service in a con- 
stitutional convention than ordinarily sits in a State 
legislature. When Virginia amended her constitution 
in 1829, John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, served in the convention at Richmond, and two 
ex-Presidents, Madison and Monroe, were members. 
The work of drafting the text of a constitution is ardu- 
ous. Extreme care must be taken in the matter of 
phraseology alone. The selection of words is impor- 
tant ; the misplacing of even a comma in punctuating a 
sentence may render its meaning contrary to the intent 
of the framers. When completed, the constitution is 



46 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

usuall}' submitted to the people for ratification or re- 
jection. Since 1870 only five revised constitutions 
have been adopted without popular vote. 

Amendments to State constitutions. — It is not 
always necessary to call a constitutional convention in 
order to amend a State constitution. There are several 
other methods of amendment. Some States employ 
more than one method. 

(1) Under one plan the constitution may be 
amended by act of the legislature without a direct 
popular vote. This is similar to the British method; 
with us it is used by only one State, Delaware. 

(2) Most of the States employ a method whereby 
amendments may be proposed by a constitutional con- 
vention. The constitution of New York provides that 
every twentieth year, or oftener if the legislature so 
decides, the electors shall vote upon the question of 
summoning a convention to revise the constitution. If 
the vote is in the affirmative, then the electors shall 
choose a certain number of delegates from each dis- 
trict to sit in the convention, and the amendments pro- 
posed by the convention shall be submitted to a popu- 
lar vote within six weeks of the adjournment of the 
convention. Other States require that the vote of the 
people upon the question of calling a convention shall 
be taken every ten years. 

(3) Besides the second method which we have just 
described many State constitutions contain a provision 
for the proposal of amendments by the legislature and 
for the submission of such proposals to the vote of the 
people. In these States the legislature may propose a 
constitutional amendment which becomes a part of 
the fundamental law if ratified by the people at the 
polls. Since the holding of a constitutional convention 



CONSTITUTIONS 47 

is expensive and should be undertaken only when the 
constitution needs a general overhauling, it is con- 
venient to have a means whereby parts of the consti- 
tution may be readily altered. In several of the States, 
however, this process of amendment has been rendered 
worthless because of peculiar provisions attached to 
its use. In Indiana, under the constitution of 1851, 
two successive legislatures must propose an amendment 
before it is submitted to the people for ratification, and 
no additional amendment may be proposed by 
the legislature to the people while any proposal 
which has already passed the legislature is await- 
ing the action of the succeeding legislature or 
the vote of the people. The Indiana constitu- 
tion also requires that an amendment is to be 
considered as adopted only if a majority of the electors 
actually attending the polls voted for the amendment. 
As the amendments are usually submitted at the gen- 
eral elections for State officials, and as many electors 
failed to vote upon the proposed amendment, such a 
majority vote has been difficult to obtain. Further- 
more, since an amendment once submitted to the people 
is considered as being before them indefinitely until 
either ratified or rejected by a majority vote, during 
this period no new amendments may be proposed. The 
constitutional development of Indiana has been 
paralyzed for more than half a century. 

(4) In some States, amendments may be proposed 
by popular initiative. Oregon, in 1902, adopted this 
mode of altering her constitution. Voters hereafter 
might propose amendments by petition. If the petition 
bears the requisite number of valid signatures, the pro- 
posal is submitted in a referendum to the people, with- 
out any action of the legislature. If ratified at the 



48 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

polls, the proposal becomes constitutional law. Four- 
teen States have thus far applied the initiative and ref- 
erendum to the proposal of constitutional amendments, 
although some States have adopted restrictions which 
retard the practice of this method. In Massachusetts 
two succeeding legislatures must vote on the proposal, 
and it does not go to a vote of the people unless one 
fourth of all the elected members in joint session vote 
favorably. 

The amendment of State constitutions is an impor- 
tant matter. Industrial and social conditions are rap- 
idly progressing and the government must be prepared 
to meet these new conditions. Much of the irritation 
expressed against our State courts is a result not of 
any arbitrary conduct on the part of the courts but 
because of the failure of the people to amend their 
constitutions in a proper manner. The duty of the 
courts is to apply the laws and the constitution; and if 
the people fail to provide the necessary constitutional 
authority, the courts cannot be blamed for the mis- 
carriage of justice. 

For Further Reading 

The Constitution as the Supreme Law of the 
Land. — Emlin McClain, Constitutional Law in the 
United States, ch. i. 

The Supremacy of the National Government. — 
W. W. Willoughby, American Constitutional System, 
ch. i, v-x; James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, 
ch. xxvii-xxx ; J. T. Young, New American Government 
and Its Work, pp. 3-9 ; Woodrow Wilson, Constitutional 
Government in the United States, ch. vii; H. L. West, 
Federal Power: Its Growth and Necessity, ch. i, ii, xiii. 

The System of Checks and Balances. — Woodrow 



CONSTITUTIONS 49 

Wilson, Constitutional Government in the United States, 
pp. 54-57, 198-222; T. M. Cooky, Principles of Consti- 
tutional Law (1898), ch. vii; The Federalist (Edited by 
P. L. Ford), No. 48, 51 ; Everett Kimball, National Gov- 
ernment of the United States, pp. 41-43, 67-73; W. B. 
Munro, Government of the United States, pp. 47-52; 
C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 
152-155; Jesse Macy and J. W. Gannaway, Comparative 
Free Government, pp. 24-30; J. Q. Dealey, State and 
Government, ch. xi; C. G. and B. M. Haines, Principles 
and Problems of Government, pp. 228-231 ; W. F. Wil- 
loughby, Government of Modern States, ch. xi; J. W. 
Garner, Introduction to Political Science, pp. 407-417. 

The Supreme Court and the Unconstitutionality 
of Acts. — Emlin McClain, Constitutional Law in the 
United States, pp. 18-25; W. W. Willoughby, Constitu- 
tional Law of the United States, I, ch. i ; Edward S. Cor- 
vin, Doctrine of Judicial Review, ch. i ; A. C. McLaugh- 
lin, The Courts, The Constitution, and Parties, ch. i; 
C. A. Beard, The Supreme Court and the Constitution, 
ch. vii; B. F. Moore, The Supreme Court and Unconsti- 
tutional Legislation, pp. 171-241. 

Amending the Constitution. — James Bryce, Amer- 
ican Commonwealth, I, ch. xxxi ; C. A. Beard, American 
Government and Politics, pp. 60-71. 

Expanding the Constitution. — W. B. Munro, Gov- 
ernment of the United States, pp. 57-70; C. A. Beard, 
American Government and Politics, pp. 72-77; P. S. 
Reinsch, Readings on American Federal Government, 

PP- 739-773- 

The Relation of the Federal and the State Gov- 
ernments. — W. W. Willoughby, American Constitu- 
tional System, ch. i, v-x; Woodrow Wilson, Constitu- 
tional Government in the United States, ch. vii. 

Admission of New States into the Union. — W. W. 
Willoughby, American Constitutional System, ch. xviii. 

Extradition of Criminals. — W. W. Willoughby, 



50 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Constitutional Law of the United States, I, pp. 222-224; 
pp. 148-149. 

State Constitutions. — C. A. Beard, American Gov- 
ernment and Politics, pp. 445-454; J. Q. Dealey, Grozvth 
of American State Constitutions, ch. iii-viii. 

Amendments of State Constitutions. — W. F. 
Dodd, Revision and Amendment of State Constitutions, 
ch. i; R. S. Hoar, Constitutional Conventions, ch. xviii; 
Bulletins for Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 
1917, no. i, xxxv ; Illinois Constitutional Convention Bul- 
letins, 1920, no. i, iii. 



CHAPTER III 

CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 

The Fathers of the American constitution consid- 
ered the people as the source of political power, and the 
most outstanding principle of the Declaration of In- 
dependence is that governments exist to secure to men 
the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
and derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed. The preamble of the constitution was made 
to read : "We the People of the United States, . . . 
do ordain and establish this Constitution/'' In 
America, sovereignty, or the supreme power, rests in 
the people. In the memorable words of Lincoln, ours 
is a "government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people." 

NATURE OF CITIZENSHIP 

By the word "people,'' the Fathers meant citizens. 
Although the original constitution speaks of citizens of 
the United States, no definition of citizenship is given. 
The Fathers evidently assumed that the definition 
of the term as found in English law would continue 
to be used, namely, citizenship is recognized mem- 
bership in a political community. It is to be deter- 
mined by allegiance, the tie which binds the subject 
to the government in return for the protection which 
the government affords to him. Citizenship is a privi- 
lege which attaches to every man, woman, and child 
who is thus a member of the state. All are entitled to 

5i 



52 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the rights of citizenship and all owe the obligations 
of citizenship. Even a babe in arms has the right to 
own or transfer property or even to bring a suit in 
court, like any adult, although, of course, the helpless- 
ness and ignorance of the infant require that such ac- 
tion must be brought in its name by the parent or some 
adult friend. The law fixes an age limit, usually 
twenty-one years, when children are more or less under 
the guidance of their parents or guardians. But even 
as minors, children have rights and owe obligations to 
the state. 

The dual citizenship in the United States. — 
In our early history considerable confusion occurred 
from the lack of a definition of "citizen" under the 
constitution. Was a citizen of a State, by that fact 
alone, a citizen of the United States ? And was a citi- 
zen of the United States also a citizen of the State in 
which he resided ? In the Dred Scott case, decided in 
1857, the Supreme Court held that a citizen of one 
State was not necessarily a citizen of the United States, 
and that Dred Scott, a former Negro slave who 
claimed to be a citizen of the State of Missouri, was 
not a citizen of the United States, for no State could 
by naturalizing an alien or a slave, invest him with 
the rights and privileges of federal citizenship. 

The question of our dual citizenship was greatly 
clarified by the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 
1868, which provides that "All persons born or nat- 
uralized in the United States, and subject to the juris- 
diction thereof, are citizens of the United States and 
of the State in which they reside." Aliens resident in 
the United States are subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States, and hence all children born to them 
while in our country, are under the terms of the Four- 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 53 

teenth Amendment, citizens. There is one exception : 
the diplomatic representatives of foreign states at 
Washington are not considered as under the jurisdic- 
tion of our government, and hence their children born 
in our country are not American citizens. On the 
other hand, although the immigration of Mongolians 
into the United States is prohibited by law, yet, ac- 
cording to the Fourteenth Amendment, all children 
born of the one hundred and fifty thousand or more 
Chinese and Japanese aliens in our land are citizens of 
the United States. 

We have, thus, a dual citizenship in America. A 
person is a citizen of the United States and at the 
same time a citizen of the State in which he resides, a 
man's residence being determined by his domicile or 
home. Each of these citizenships confers certain 
rights and immunities. As a citizen of the United 
States a man has certain rights guaranteed to him 
under the federal constitution. As a citizen of a State 
he also has other rights guaranteed under the consti- 
tution of his State. 

The custom of modern nations as to citizenship. 
— Citizenship is acquired by birth, naturalization, or 
annexation. The rule for determining whether a per- 
son is a native-born citizen is not uniform among na- 
tions. Some nations hold to the rule that all children 
born of citizens even when abroad are citizens of the 
home state. Other nations hold to the law that all 
persons born within the country are citizens of that 
country. England, Portugal, and most of the South 
American states follow the former rule. Germany, 
Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland follow the latter 
rule. France, in a measure, may be considered as fol- 
lowing both the above rules. The United States like- 



54 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

wise follows both rules; the Fourteenth Amendment 
provides that all persons born within our jurisdiction 
are citizens; and an act of Congress provides that "All 
children heretofore born or hereafter born out of the 
limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose 
fathers were or may be at the time of their birth citi- 
zens thereof, are declared to be citizens of the United 
States; but the rights of citizenship shall not descend 
to children whose fathers never resided in the United 
States." 

In the majority of states a woman by marriage ac- 
quires the citizenship of her husband. Such is the law 
in the United States. By marriage with an alien, then, 
since no one can have two allegiances, the wife loses 
her rights as a citizen of her native state. Upon the 
death of her husband, or the annulment of the mar- 
riage, she may regain her American citizenship by 
registering within one year at an American consulate if 
abroad, or by residence in the United States. 

THE ALIEN AND THE ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP 

A foreigner may acquire American citizenship by re- 
nouncing his former allegiance and complying with 
certain requirements. The constitution gave Congress 
power to make a uniform naturalization law, and Con- 
gress by statutory act has prescribed a method of 
naturalization. Since 1802 the minimum residence re- 
quirements have been five years. The business of re- 
nouncing a former allegiance and assuming a new citi- 
zenship is a serious matter, and the law on the subject 
is very precise. 

Naturalization. — There are three steps in the ob- 
taining of citizenship papers : ( 1 ) the declaration of 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 55 

intention, (2) the petition for naturalization, and (3) 
the certificate of naturalization. 

In the first place the alien must secure his "first 
papers" or declaration of intention. This can be ob- 
tained in a Clerk's Office of a United States District 
Court, or of any County Court. The declaration may 
be made as soon as the applicant arrives in the United 
States, provided he is eighteen years old. He must 
swear/or take an affirmation that he renounces his al- 
legiance to the country of which he has been a subject, 
that he is not an anarchist nor a polygamist, and that 
he wishes to be naturalized and reside permanently in 
the United States. Thereupon he receives from the 
Court Clerk a copy of his declaration of intention. 
The declaration of intention becomes invalid for all 
purposes after seven years. 

The second step is the filing of the petition for nat- 
uralization. This should be done not less than two 
years nor more than seven years after the date of the 
declaration of intention. The applicant must now have 
resided five years in the United States, and he must 
bring into the Court Clerk's Office two witnesses who 
are citizens of the United States and who have known 
him personally in the United States. These witnesses 
are to testify that the applicant is of good character, 
is attached to the principles of the constitution of the 
United States, and would make a good citizen. The 
applicant must now be able to speak the English lan- 
guage unless physically disabled, he must not be op- 
posed to organized government; he must not be a po- 
lygamist, he must be attached to the principles of the 
constitution of the United States, and he must be pre- 
pared to swear that he intends to renounce his alle- 
giance to the country of which he has been a subject. 



56 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

There can be no divided allegiance, nor any mental 
reservations on this point. And the applicant must 
intend to reside permanently in the United States. 

The third and last visit is made to the court at least 
three months after the riling of the second papers, 
when the applicant and his two witnesses appear in 
open court before a judge upon a fixed date. Before 
proceeding to this third step the applicant should know 
something of the history and geography of the United 
States. He should have read and studied the Declara- 
tion of Independence and the Constitution of the 
United States. And he should have made a study of 
State, county, and city government. The judge may 
examine the applicant upon these subjects. If the 
judge is satisfied with all the preceding steps, the sol- 
emn oath of allegiance is then administered to the ap- 
plicant, whereby he renounces all allegiance and fidelity 
to any foreign prince, potentate, or state and promises 
in the following words: "I will support and defend 
the constitution and laws of the United States of 
America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; 
and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, 
so help me God." A certificate of naturalization, of- 
ficially signed and sealed, is thereupon handed to the 
new citizen. The naturalization of the father of a 
family includes his wife and minor children. 

The Americanization program. — There has been an 
attitude expressed of late years, that immigrants who 
come to America to make their home should undertake 
as soon as possible to acquire the rights and responsi- 
bilities of citizenship. And one of the prominent fea- 
tures of the Americanization Program inaugurated 
during the World War was that of more efficiently 
preparing aliens for the privileges and duties of Amer- 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 57 

ican citizens. It has sometimes happened that un- 
scrupulous politicians in our municipalities, wishing to 
secure more votes, have herded ignorant immigrants 
into court, where, with the connivance of corrupt of- 
ficials, citizenship papers have been fraudulently 
granted. These mass-made citizens then received a 
bribe Jor their trouble, and in the next election they 
were expected to vote as the "boss" directed them. 

Such outrages are no longer common occurrences. 
And a genuine effort is now made on the part of several 
well-organized associations to give the immigrant an 
opportunity to make himself a good citizen. Night 
schools have been opened; libraries established. In 
the interval of two or more years between the signing 
of the first and the second papers the applicant for 
American citizenship should be taught at least the fol- 
lowing subjects : the English language, both spoken 
and written, United States geography, United States 
history, the Declaration of Independence, the Con- 
stitution of the United States, and the government of 
the State, county, and city. The business of qualify- 
ing oneself to become a citizen of the United States 
should be made a dignified and ennobling process. 

The alien in the United States. — In ancient times 
the foreigner was treated as an enemy. In early Greek 
or Roman history the outsider was a barbarian to be 
attacked on sight. But with the rise of trade and ship- 
ping, merchants and sailors were tolerated as oc- 
casional visitors. In the modern world citizens of one 
state are free in a very large degree to enter and reside 
within the boundaries of other states. International 
Law, however, does not give any person an absolute 
right to enter another country. An alien enters and 
resides in a state subject to the will of that state. 



58 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Under International Law a nation may exclude, or 
even expel, any or all aliens from its jurisdiction. 
While residing within a state aliens must obey the laws 
of that state, and they are subject to the same punish- 
ment for infraction of these laws as are the citizens of 
the state. At the same time an obligation rests upon 
the state to protect the life, liberty, and property of 
aliens whom it permits to reside within its jurisdiction. 

America has been generous toward the alien in our 
midst in respect to legal rights. An alien may own 
property. He may sue in our federal and State courts. 
He is entitled to the rights and privileges guaranteed 
to our own citizens in the federal and State constitu- 
tions, such as trial by jury, religious freedom, free 
speech, liberty to move about and trade and seek em- 
ployment. Under the Homestead Act of 1862 Con- 
gress has granted millions of acres to foreigners. In 
some States the alien may, under certain conditions, 
vote at all elections, and even hold office. Indeed, there 
are few restrictions imposed upon an alien which 
would put him at a disadvantage when compared with 
either the native-born citizen or the naturalized for- 
eigner. At the present time there are about four mil- 
lion aliens in the United States who have not declared 
their intention of becoming American citizens. 

Immigration. — America has been remarkably gen- 
erous in admitting immigrants into our borders. Dur- 
ing our Revolutionary War the French statesman Tur- 
got declared : "The American nation is the hope of 
mankind. The shelter which it is going to offer to the 
oppressed of all nations will console the earth." Tur- 
got was right. Ever since the day that the Pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth Rock we have considered our 
country in a peculiar sense to be the refuge of the op- 






CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 59 

pressed. And we have always asserted the right of 
European subjects to come to America, renounce their 
former allegiance, expatriate themselves, and acquire 
our American citizenship. Before 1820 Europeans 
from the continent came in only small numbers. By 
1842 a hundred thousand immigrants came yearly, 
while after the year 1880 hordes of aliens poured 
through Ellis Island. Notable among these immigrants 
besijd€s the English, Scotch, and Irish, have been the 
Germans, Scandinavians, Austrians, French Cana- 
dians, Italians, Russian Jews, Magyars from Hungary, 
Bohemians, Poles, Croatians, Slovenians, Slovaks, 
and Greeks. On the eve of the World War, a million 
immigrants were landing on our shores each year. This 
huge influx has been both a blessing and a misfortune. 
It has been a blessing because it is noble to offer an 
asylum to the oppressed people of the world, and be- 
cause the development of our natural resources has re- 
quired the man-power which the incoming European 
races have supplied. And many of the newcomers, 
like Carl Schurz, have made valuable contributions to 
our cultural life. But immigration has produced some 
unfortunate conditions. It has increased the conges- 
tion of our cities. It has injected great masses of dis- 
contented populations into our country. It has brought 
anarchists and maligners of our social, political, and 
religious institutions, and even such outcasts as Czol- 
golz, the assassinator of President McKinley. Withal 
the huge immigration of the past forty years has 
greatly increased the difficulties of the problem of good 
government. 

Expulsion of undesirable aliens. — In late years 
the United States has found it necessary to take ex- 
treme measures against certain classes of aliens. As 



60 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

we have already seen, a nation has a right under In- 
ternational Law to expel foreigners from its borders. 
In 1798 Congress passed the Alien Act empowering 
the President for two years to apprehend and remove 
dangerous aliens. No deportations, however, took 
place under authority of this act. Somewhat similar 
powers of expulsion were granted to the Secretary of 
Labor in the Act of October 16, 19 18, which authorized 
this official to deport aliens who advocated the over- 
throw of organized government. Under this law, in 
December, 19 19, some two hundred and fifty alien 
anarchists were deported to Russia upon the transport 
Buford. 

Some inconsistencies in our laws upon aliens. — 
Some strange anomalies exist in our government with 
reference to alien residents. Under the federal con- 
stitution the qualifications for voters for Presidential 
Electors in each State are the same as those for the 
lower house of the legislature in that State. Six 
States — Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, 
and Wisconsin — permit aliens who have declared their 
intention of becoming citizens of the United States 
to vote at all elections. In these States, therefore, per- 
sons are permitted to vote in the presidential elections, 
who are not citizens of the United States. 

Again, under International Law, every nation owes 
a certain degree of protection to all aliens whom it 
allows to reside within its borders. But in the United 
States the protection of a person's life and property 
from mob violence is within the jurisdiction of the 
States and not of the federal government. And the 
diplomatic relations of the United States with foreign 
countries have often been embarrassed because of the 
failure of a State to perform its duty and because of 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 61 

the inability of the federal government to compel the 
performance of this duty. Another problem is that 
concerning the status of the alien who has taken his 
first papers but not his second or third papers. The 
American government has often attempted to main- 
tain that such men are entitled to all the rights of our 
citizenship and that they are under the protection of our 
government even when they return to their native 
country. Complications, of course, arise when such 
citizens return to a country which may deny the right 
of expatriation and compel the wanderers to do mili- 
tary service. A number of aliens have come to Amer- 
ica in the past to take their first papers solely for the 
purpose of securing at small cost the protection of a 
powerful and generous nation in foreign parts. 

Racial problems in the United States. — We 
should not forget that we have other racial problems 
which concern good citizenship. The chief of these is 
the Negro problem. In our population of one hundred 
and five millions there are ten and a half million colored 
people. The bulk of this population has always been 
in the South ; but during the World War large numbers 
of Southern Negroes and their families, attracted by 
high wages, have come into our Northern manufactur- 
ing towns. Here they have found the problem of 
housing difficult and their contact with other racial 
groups has often been unfortunate. 

A little over half a century ago the Negroes were 
slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 guaran- 
teed their freedom. The Fourteenth Amendment 
made them citizens of the United States and of the 
State in which they resided, and was also intended to 
protect them from the loss of any civic rights by State 
action, while the Fifteenth Amendment, adopted in 



62 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

1870, aimed to guarantee their rights politically, in- 
cluding the right to vote. This sudden grant of full 
political rights to a great body of former slaves was a 
very serious matter. From the excesses of the "carpet- 
bag" days, when the State governments fell into the 
hands of unscrupulous whites who easily manipulated 
the Negro vote, there was, of course, a strong reaction. 
And some Southern States still disenfranchise a part — 
not always the greater part — of the Negro vote by 
educational tests and other methods. A few years ago 
the celebrated leader of the colored people, Booker T. 
Washington, advised his race to give up, for the 
present, any agitation of the suffrage question and to 
look more to bettering their economic condition. 

Acquisition of citizenship by annexation. — Citi- 
zenship may also be acquired by annexation. When 
Louisiana and Florida were annexed it was provided 
by treaty that the inhabitants should be admitted as 
soon as possible to all the rights and immunities of 
citizens of the United States. And when the Republic 
of Hawaii made an annexation treaty with the United 
States, in 1898, it was stipulated that all those who 
were formerly citizens of the island should become 
citizens of the United States. The treaty of 1899 
whereby Spain ceded Porto Rico and the Philippines 
to the United States left the question of citizenship 
with Congress. In 191 7 Congress made the Porto 
Ricans citizens of the United States, but Congress has 
not yet seen fit to confer the status of full American 
citizenship upon the inhabitants of the Philippine 
Islands. Nevertheless, the Filipinos owe allegiance to 
the United States, and our government in return owes 
them protection in life, liberty, and property. Inter- 
national Law recognizes the existence of such a tie, 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 63 

even though the Filipinos are not considered citizens. 
Under International Law these people are called na- 
tionals. 

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP 

Civil rights. — Civil or civic rights are the privi- 
leges, liberties, immunities, and dues which belong to 
the citizen. These rights are guaranteed to the citizen 
in the /federal and State constitutions. Many of the 
State constitutions have a chapter or section headed 
"Bill of Rights." And we have already seen that the 
first ten amendments to the federal constitution were 
also called a "Bill of Rights," although many other 
civil rights had been guaranteed in the original text 
itself. These rights, such as jury trial, habeas corpus, 
free speech, and religious liberty, are the heritage of 
ages of constitutional history. The rights protected 
by the federal and the State constitutions overlap each 
other, but are not always identical. For instance, the 
federal constitution guarantees that the federal gov- 
ernment will not infringe upon the religious liberty of 
a citizen of the United States nor take his property 
without just compensation. The State constitutions 
make the same guarantee to the citizens of the respec- 
tive States. On the other hand, a person enjoys the 
right to use the navigable rivers of the United States, 
to trade with a citizen of another State, and to acquire 
State citizenship by residence in a State, solely because 
of his federal citizenship, while he enjoys the right of 
protection from mob violence, the right to acquire and 
possess property of every kind, the right to engage in 
business, and the right to sue in the courts of his State 
solely because of his State citizenship. In connection 
with the right to sue in the courts and be sued it should 



64 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

be noted that corporations are treated as "citizens" of 
the State under whose laws they are chartered. 

Political rights. — All citizens equally possess civil 
rights. But not all citizens have political rights. The 
latter are the rights of participation in the government, 
the right of voting and of holding office. Sometimes 
people confuse political and civil rights. Voting is not 
a civil right, nor is holding office a civil right. Chil- 
dren cannot vote in any State, and yet they are citizens. 
Before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment 
women were without a vote in many States. Under 
the federal constitution also, no one may hold the office 
of Representative unless he is twenty-five years old 
and has been seven years a citizen of the United 
States, and no one is eligible to the office of President 
unless he is thirty-five years old and a native-born citi- 
zen. The distinction between the two classes of rights 
was illustrated in the case of Minor vs. Happersett, 
which came before the Supreme Court in 1874. Mrs. 
Minor, the plaintiff, was a native-born free white citi- 
zen of the United States and of the State of Missouri, 
and over twenty-one years of age. Wishing to vote 
in the presidential election of 1872, she applied to Hap- 
persett, the register of voters in her election district, to 
enroll as a lawful voter. Happersett refused, giving 
for cause that Mrs. Minor was not a male citizen of 
the United States, and consequently not entitled to 
vote. Mrs. Minor thereupon sued Happersett for al- 
leged willful refusal to place her name on the polls, 
by which refusal she had been deprived of her right 
to vote. The court decided that while Mrs. Minor 
was clearly a citizen of the United States, she was not 
entitled to vote because the right of suffrage was not 
necessarily one of the privileges and immunities of 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 65 

citizenship. The provision of the constitution of the 
State of Missouri which confined the right to vote to 
"male citizens of the United States" was not considered 
by the court to be a violation of the federal constitu- 
tion. 

Woman suffrage. — The Fathers left the question 
of suffrage to the decision of the States. The consti- 
tution/ thus provided that the qualifications of voters 
for Presidential Electors and for Representatives in 
Congress should be the same in each State as those for 
the members of the lower house of the legislature. 
After the Civil War, however, the Fifteenth Amend- 
ment limited the control of the States over suffrage 
providing that "the rights of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the 
United States or by any State on account of race, color, 
or previous condition of servitude." Even before this 
time, as we have already seen in the preceding chapter, 
the movement for woman suffrage had begun, and thisr/ 
movement culminated in the Nineteenth Amendment, 
adopted in 1920, prohibiting any abridgment of the 
right to vote on account of sex. In the meantime many 
States had already granted to women the power to vote 
in all elections. Wyoming as a territory adopted 
woman's suffrage as early as the year 1869. Alto- 
gether, women were allowed full rights to vote in 
fifteen States before the final ratification of the 
Nineteenth Amendment. 

The possession of political rights entails certain 
moral obligations. Every citizen who has the right to 
vote and fails to exercise that right according to his 
convictions and best judgment is guilty of gross neglect 
of duty to the state. The inefficient and dishonest 
government in some of our States and municipalities 



' 



', 



66 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

is due to the fact that many intelligent citizens have 
disregarded the duties which they owe to their com- 
monwealth by failing to register and vote at elections. 
Now that women have the ballot in national, State, and 
local elections, they share in this responsibility. Here- 
after the fault for bad government will fall upon 
women equally with men. 

The duties and obligations of citizenship. — 
Theodore Roosevelt said, "The fundamental evil in this 
country is the lack of sufficiently general appreciation 
of the responsibility of citizenship." Too frequently 
people emphasize the rights of citizenship without con- 
sidering the obligations which are also attached to 
citizenship. We should not forget, however, that 
rights and obligations travel hand in hand. We cannot 
have the one without the other. We should not expect 
to receive constant benefits from the state and never 
give to it corresponding service. 

The good citizen owes much to the state from which 
he has received his education, liberties, rights, and pro- 
tection. He owes the duty of jury service, of keeping 
the peace and helping others to keep the peace. He 
should be willing to sacrifice his life for his country, 
if need be, in time of war and public disturbance. He 
owes taxes for the support of the government in pro- 
portion to his ability to pay. He owes personal service 
in office according to his ability to serve. One of the 
beautiful things of the ancient Massachusetts town- 
meeting government was the willingness of the ablest 
men to undertake public duties. The good citizen also 
has an obligation to inform himself upon political 
questions of the day, to judge reasonably of men and 
measures, and to cast his ballot after this due con- 
sideration and reflection. 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 67 

Rights and obligations are derived from the ethical 
ideals of rational human beings. They are based on 
common sense, and existed even before governments 
were established. But it is one of the chief functions 
of government to give these ethical rights the sanction 
of law, and to enforce them against all violators. Be- 
fore the state so acted individuals were accustomed to 
secure their rights against aggressors by means of 
threats and violence if necessary. But in time the 
state did away with this method of securing justice. 
Rights were then defined by law, and legal means of 
remedying wrongs were provided. Henceforth it was 
illegal for the individual to enforce a right save in the 
courts of the state. The state became the fountain 
of justice and sole agent in righting of wrongs. 

It cannot be too strongly impressed upon all classes 
of citizens that every civil and political right secured 
to us by the government of State or nation implies a 
corresponding obligation. The patriotism of any citi- 
zen who talks much about his rights but never wil- 
lingly renders a service to the state is open to serious 
suspicion. Why should not the citizen aim to make 
himself an efficient force in the community? As Dr. 
Hough has said : "Our American citizen must study his 
own life, its weakness and its strength, its limitations 
and its powers, and as he comes to know himself bet- 
ter he will be able to take a new and sympathetic and 
accurate appraisal of all his fellow citizens. It is one 
thing to study citizenship as a collection of duties for 
other men; it is quite another to study myself and my 
duties as a citizen. Am I willing to run personal risks 
for the good of the community ? Am I willing to make 
sacrifices for the sake of reform and civic betterment ? 
Am I willing to wear the patriot's shoes when they are 



68 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

very uncomfortable for the feet? It is only as indi- 
vidual men will ask these questions and answer them 
in the affirmative that there is any use in talking of such 
a thing as genuine citizenship. The man who has 
studied his own life, has fought his own battles with 
selfishness and greed, and has won his own victories, 
is ready to be a leader in the matters of practical 
patriotism. The man who will vote for what is good 
for the country, even if it is not personally good for 
him, is a sort of civic saint." 

For Further Reading 

The Dual Citizenship in the United States. — 
Emlin McClain, Constitutional Law in the United States, 
pp. 275-279; Everett Kimball, National Government of 
the United States, pp. 73-78 ; W. W. Willoughby, Amer- 
ican Constitutional System, pp. 241-249; J. T. Young, 
New American Government, pp. 486-489. 

Customs of Modern States as to Citizenship. — 
G. G. Wilson and G. F. Tucker, International Law, pp. 
130-141. 

Naturalization. — Frederick Van Dyne, Treatise on 
the Law of Naturalization in the United States; H. D. 
Thompson, How to Obtain Citizenship Papers, (issued 
by the National Security League, 19 West 44th Street, 
New York City, and mailed to any address for a two- 
cent stamp) ; N. C. Fowler, How to Obtain Citizenship. 

Immigration and Aliens in the United States. — 
J. R. Commons, Races and Immigrants in America, pp. 
179-197; J. W. Jenks and W. L. Lauck, The Immigration 
Problem, pp. 127-146; Grace Abbott, The Immigrant 
and the Community, ch. x. 

Americanization Program. — Winthrop Talbot, 
Americanization, pp. 38-43 ; E. S. Bogardus, Essentials 
of Americanization, pp. 11-22; Albert Shaw, President 
Wilson's State Papers and Addresses, pp. 290-294; An- 



CITIZENSHIP AND SUFFRAGE 69 

nual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for 1918 
(Washington, 1918) pp. n-32; Philip Davis, Immigra- 
tion and Americanization; Selected Readings, pp. 673- 
647; Americanization Studies (Allen T. Burns, Di- 
rector). 

The Rights and Immunities of Citizens. — A. B. 
Hart, Actual Government, pp. 19-33; A. J. Lien, Privi- 
leges and Immunities of Citizens of the United States, 
ch. v(i. 

Duties and Obligations of Citizens. — E. L. Godkin, 
Problems of Modem Democracy, pp. 199-224 ; Theodore 
Roosevelt, Applied Ethics; Albert Shaw, President Wil- 
son's State Papers and Addresses, pp. 114-118; R. T. 
Ely, Social Law of Service, pp. 77-102; Elihu Root, Ad- 
dresses on Government and Citizenship, pp. 3-19. 

Woman Suffrage. — Carrie C. Catt, Woman Suffrage 
by Federal Constitutional Amendment, pp. 1-11; Helen 
M. Sumner, Equal Suffrage, pp. 214-260; Elizabeth Cady 
Stanton, History of Woman Suffrage, I, ch. i-vii ; K. H. 
Porter, History of Suffrage in the United States, ch. 
vii, ix; W. H. Allen, Woman's Part in Government, 
ch. v ; W. F. Ogburn and Inez Goltra, How Women Vote 
in Political Science Quarterly (1919), XXXIV, pp. 
413-433. 



CHAPTER IV 
POLITICAL PARTIES AND PLATFORMS 

In the preceding chapters we have seen that the term 
"American people" includes all citizens of the United 
States, native-born or naturalized. We have seen also 
that the term "citizen" is a very much broader one 
than the term "voter" or "elector." It is true that in 
the United States government is of all the people and 
for all the people, but it is not by all the people. Only 
legally qualified voters, or electors, have any active 
share in controlling our government. In view of these 
facts three principles clearly appear: (i) The collec- 
tive body of voters, called the electorate, are as truly 
and vitally a department of our government as are the 
legislature, the executive, or the judicial departments. 
(2) A very large proportion of our citizens who are 
for any reason debarred from the right to vote must 
look to the electorate to safeguard their interests and 
protect them in their rights. (3) There must be some 
practical method, some political machinery, to enable 
the electorate to initiate and continue the actual and 
necessary processes of democratic government, such 
as the framing of constitutions, the making and en- 
forcing of laws. 

The functions of the electorate. — (1) The first 
function of the electorate in a state where the powers 
of the government are set forth in some formal writ- 
ten agreement is to frame and adopt such an agree- 
ment. Such a document may be called Articles of 

70 



POLITICAL PARTIES 71 

Confederation, United States Constitution, or State 
Constitution, but the aim of all of them is to determine 
the general principles, form, and method of the pro- 
posed government. In our American democracy no 
other function of the electorate surpasses in impor- 
tance this constitution-making power. The process of 
framing and amending our State and national constitu- 
tions has been described in the preceding chapters, and 
need not be further discussed here. 

(2) The second function of the electorate as an 
integral department of our government is to select hon- 
est and efficient representatives to make, enforce, inter- 
pret, and administer the laws enacted under the powers 
granted in the constitution. Honestly and intelligently 
to perform his duty in the choice of such officials 
is the supreme obligation of the voter in time of peace, 
as it is his supreme obligation in time of war to die, if 
need be, for his country. In the United States the 
method or machinery by which the members of the 
electorate are enabled to select representatives to carry 
out the provisions of the constitution and all laws 
framed under such provisions, may be labeled a 
political party, and the statement of principles of such 
a party is its platform. 

Permanency of political parties. — In modern 
states political parties usually have a permanent organ- 
ization and a continuous history. In England the Lib- 
erals and the Conservatives have faced each other for 
almost three quarters of a century, and before them 
came the Whigs and the Tories. In America, the 
present Democratic Party is almost a century old ; and 
the Republican Party was organized nearly seventy 
years ago. Of course parties break up in time, or are 
displaced by more vigorous competitors, but the major 



72 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

parties generally possess large and elaborate organiza- 
tions in all parts of the country which give them a high 
degree of stability. 

HISTORY OF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES 

The history of political parties in the United States 
begins soon after the Constitutional Convention in 
1787, although the framers of the constitution were 
earnestly opposed to party government in any 
form. Madison condemned the 'Violence of faction" 
and Washington feared the "danger of parties in the 
state." Accordingly, they undertook to construct the 
new government in such manner that the rise of parties 
would be discouraged. Especially in the matter of 
electing the President the Fathers sought to prevent the 
appearance of any partisan contest. It is one of the 
ironies of history, however, that the convention itself 
was divided in factions and that the struggle over the 
ratification gave rise to the first national political align- 
ment — the Federalists and the anti-Federalists. 

Washington's failure to prevent the growth of 
parties. — After the new government was established 
Washington endeavored to ignore parties. He wished 
to draw into his administration the ablest men in the 
United States. He appointed his Cabinet upon a non- 
partisan basis : Hamilton and Knox were Federalists ; 
Jefferson and Randolph held opposite political views. 
But Washington attempted to maintain an impossible 
situation. Party contests appeared in Congress where 
the influence of Hamilton was checked by the influence 
of Jefferson. In the Cabinet Hamilton and Jefferson 
came face to face, and as the differences between these 
virile personalities waxed greater the sessions became 
very painful experiences. After repeated requests 



POLITICAL PARTIES 73 

from both secretaries that Washington accept their res- 
ignations, the President finally, with great reluctance, 
permitted them to leave his Cabinet. Jefferson with- 
drew in December, 1793, and Hamilton in January, 
I 795- Up to the end of his second administration 
Washington endeavored to govern impartially, and in 
his "Farewell Address" he warned the American people 
against "the baneful effects of the spirit of party." 

After leaving Washington's Cabinet, Jefferson 
founded the Jeff ersonian Republican Party ; and in the 
presidential election of 1800 the new party defeated 
the Federalists and elected Jefferson to the Presidency. 
In general the policy of the Federalists was to 
expand the national powers at the expense of the State 
governments, while the Jeffersonian Republicans were 
zealous for State's rights and endeavored to resist 
all encroachments by the federal government as attacks 
upon personal liberty. The Federalists favored a lib- 
eral or "loose" interpretation of the constitution ; and 
the Jeffersonian Republicans demanded a "strict" in- 
terpretation. Nevertheless, when Jefferson became 
President he acted in much the same way as had Wash- 
ington and Adams, and his ministers at Paris nego- 
tiated for the purchase of Louisiana, although the con- 
stitution gives no express authority to the federal gov- 
ernment to acquire federal territory. At the same time 
the Federalists out of office criticized Jefferson as over- 
stepping the constitution. 

The present Democratic Party originated about the 
year 1828 with the supporters of Andrew Jackson, who 
considered himself a follower of Jefferson. 

Theoretically, the Democratic Party has always 
stood for "strict" construction, whereas the Federal- 
ists, Whigs, and Republicans for a broad construction 



74 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of the constitution. Even in late years the Democratic 
national platform has contained a general affirmation 
of the necessity for guarding against the usurpation 
of the federal government and for protecting the "sov- 
ereign rights" of the State. As a matter of fact, 
however, the practical attitude of the parties depends 
upon their tenure of power. If the Republicans con- 
trol Congress, the Democrats reproach them for over- 
stepping the bounds of the constitution; but if the 
Democrats control Congress, the old doctrine of 
"strict" interpretation is discarded only to be seized 
by the Republicans who lament that their opponents are 
playing fast and loose with the supreme law of the 
land. The reason for this anomaly is not hard to find. 
The minority party feels obliged to criticize all the 
measures of its opponents, and seeks to tie the hands of 
the majority party by arguments on constitutionality. 
Parties in power tend to take a liberal view of the con- 
stitution and parties out of power demand a strict con- 
struction of that document. 

The later history of political parties. — The story 
of the Democratic Party, the rise and fall of the Whig 
Party, and the appearance of the Republican Party 
belongs to American history ; and, although an account 
of these political parties is full of human interest, 
space forbids our entering upon any extended consid- 
eration of this subject. The Republican Party arose 
in the West. A meeting of citizens at Jackson, Michi- 
gan, in July, 1854, during the excitement over the 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill, may perhaps be said to be the 
origin of this party. At any rate, the Republicans 
carried several Northern States in the election of 1854, 
and in the national campaign of 1856 they displaced the 
Whigs. In this election the Democrats secured 1,838,- 



POLITICAL PARTIES 75 

169 votes, the Republicans 1,341,264 votes, and the 
Whigs only 874,534. Never in American history has 
a major party been so quickly and completely sup- 
planted by a third party as were the Whigs. A split 
in the Democratic Party four years later contributed 
to the election of Abraham Lincoln on the Republican 
ticket, an event which was preliminary to the Civil 
War. 

The Civil War ended with a great enhancement of 
the Republican strength. Under this party the Union 
had been saved; and the name of Lincoln cast a luster 
which is never forgotten when its voters describe its 
virtues. The war had demoralized the Democrats, both 
in the North and in the South, while Republican poli- 
ticians in Congress deliberately manipulated reconstruc- 
tion legislation and constitutional amendments so as 
to insure the permanency of their control. Until the 
Amnesty Act of 1872 large numbers of the white popu- 
lation in the South were disfranchised and several 
States experienced a scandalous regime of "carpet- 
bag" rule, as the governments were called that were 
set up by unscrupulous whites who used the Negro 
vote for securing public plunder. The reaction against 
this condition produced the "solid South." The South 
has been for fifty years the bailiwick of the Democratic 
Party. Since 1876 Republican candidates for the 
Presidency have seldom carried a State below Ken- 
tucky and Maryland. 

In the North the Democratic Party recovered some 
of its former strongholds, particularly in cities like 
New York and Boston, where powerful local machines 
had long existed. But the political prestige of the Re- 
publicans remained so dominant that they controlled 
the Presidency from 1861 to 1913, with the exception 



7 6 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of only eight years. Cleveland was President in 1885- 
1889 and again in 1 893-1 897. In 19 12, when the Re- 
publican Party was weakened by the secession of the 
Progressives, the Democrats won the presidential elec- 
tion, and Mr. Wilson again carried the country in 
1916. 

Third-party movements. — For more than half a 
century the Republicans and the Democrats have been 
the two major parties in America. In the presidential 
election of 1912 the Progressives outvoted the Repub- 
licans; but in the following election the greater part of 
the vote returned to the Republican Party or else joined 
the Democrats. Except for this episode neither party 
has been seriously menaced by a third party. 

The two-party system is one of the features which 
have distinguished American and English legislatures 
from continental European legislatures. For a smooth- 
running democracy Americans have generally consid- 
ered the two-party system as almost a necessity; and 
frowned upon third-party movements. Nevertheless, 
third parties have played an important role in prodding 
the leaders of the major parties to give heed to certain 
popular demands. 

Since the Civil War the third-party movements in 
the United States have been largely expressions of 
protest against the policies of the major parties, and 
many of them have flourished in the West and South. 
The Greenback Party was formed in the seventies as 
a protest against the Republican policy of retiring the 
paper currency issued during the Civil War. It also 
served as the organ of a part of the agricultural class 
to express their discontent with the policies of the con- 
trolling party in Congress. In the nineties the Popu- 
list Party served the same purpose in many regions 



POLITICAL PARTIES 77 

throughout the West and the South. After his "cross- 
of-gold" speech at the Chicago Convention in 1896, 
Mr. Bryan won the greater part of the Populist vote 
for the Democratic ticket. In 19 12 a formidable section 
of the Republican voters under the leadership of Roose- 
velt bolted the ticket and organized the Progressive 
Party. In the presidential election of 1912 the Pro- 
gressive Party succeeded in relegating the Republicans 
to the third place, but the Democrats won the presi- 
dency and the control of Congress. The following 
table will show the strength of the third parties in the 
election. 

Presidential Election of 1912 



Parties 


Popular Vote 


Electoral Vote 


Democratic 


6,293,019 


435 


Progressive 


4,H9,507 


88 


Republican 


3,484,956 


8 


Socialist 


901,873 




Prohibition 


207,828 




Socialist-Labor 


29^59 





Mr. Roosevelt's insurgency had been in large meas- 
ure a revolt against the bosses and machines which con- 
trolled the Republican Party. Earnest efforts were 
made to create a new and permanent organization for 
the Progressive Party. The World War, however, in- 
tervened and the support which Mr. Roosevelt gave the 
Republican candidate in 19 16 practically brought an 
end to the new party. 

A glance at the election returns for the past fifty 
years will show that three or four minor parties gener- 
ally make a small showing in each presidential cam- 
paign. But upon only one occasion has a third party 
risen up as an equal competitor with the two major 



78 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

parties. Many of the new parties have only a local 
existence like the Nonpartisan League in the North- 
west. Even when they succeed in winning seats in 
Congress their strength consists in making alliances 
with the old parties which they have defied and de- 
nounced. Of course the leaders of a minor party 
hope that the party will grow into a formidable organ- 
ization, but the average American voter generally shuns 
them, believing them to be impractical, Utopian, or 
founded upon pernicious class-antagonism; and what 
is good in them is generally absorbed in the end by the 
two major parties. It cannot be denied that minor 
parties serve a valuable purpose in our republic. They 
present new issues to the country, they make voters 
think, and they compel party leaders to give heed to 
expressions of dissent. In conclusion, however, it may 
be said that sudden increases in the size of minor 
parties, whenever they occur, may be taken as a sign 
that our democracy is not running smoothly. 

In continental Europe the Socialists are one of the 
strongest elements in the national legislatures. In 
America, however, the two organizations which go un- 
der the name of Socialists are minor parties ; they never 
have won even one electoral vote, and seldom have a 
representative in Congress. The smaller of these or- 
ganizations is the Socialist-Labor Party, which polls 
about thirty thousand votes for President. This party 
is composed of unrelenting Socialists, firm believers in 
Karl Marx. The larger organization has the name of 
the Socialist Party, and corresponds to the group of 
Socialists found in the continental European legisla- 
tures, who believe in using political means in working 
toward their goal, which is the industrial democracy 
and the nationalization of the productive resources of 



POLITICAL PARTIES 79 

the country. The first of these parties is much older 
than most people are aware. It was formed out of 
the Working-Men's Party in the national convention 
held at Newark, New Jersey, in 1877. The latter party 
was founded by Eugene V. Debs shortly after the 
presidential election of 1896. In 1904 Mr. Debs won 
402,895 votes for the Presidency, and in the election 
of 19 1 2 the Socialists made a remarkable gain, hav- 
ing slightly over 900,000 votes, but in 19 16, on the eve 
of America's entrance into the World War, the Social- 
ist vote fell to 590,415. The party has a perma- 
nent organization with headquarters in New York. 
It is supported by small monthly fees paid by its mem- 
bers. The Socialist Party in America is grounded 
upon class-antagonism; and it is doubtful whether this 
appeal can win a large following. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL PARTIES 

Parties do not run themselves; they require careful 
direction by men who make it their business to promote 
their party's advancement. The success of a political 
party depends almost as much upon the discipline which 
the managers are able to instill into the rank and file 
of its membership, as upon political wisdom in choos- 
ing issues and candidates. To secure discipline, to 
carry on a program of advertisement, to persuade new 
voters, and finally to see that all members of the party 
go to the polls — all these things require a vast organ- 
ization covering the entire country. The nomination 
of candidates is but the preliminary work of a cam- 
paign. Political reformers frequently overlook this 
fact and expect the ability of their candidates and the 
real worth of their platform to win the election. Such 
methods fail to win elections in a large democracy 



80 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

where men are unequally interested in the conduct of 
government and where the majority of voters would 
never appear at the polls unless pressure of some sort 
were exerted upon them. 

The work of the national party organization con- 
sists in conducting a congressional campaign every 
two years and a presidential campaign every four 
years. In these national campaigns the two great 
parties usually develop organizations so complete that 
the national committees are able to keep in touch with 
any local committee in the remotest corner of the 
Union. 

The National Committee. — The organization of 
the two major parties consists of a network of com- 
mittees extending from the national headquarters into 
every part of the country. The first of these commit- 
tees is the National Committee, chosen in the case of 
the Democratic Party by direct primary election. 
There is one member from each State and territory. 
These men are usually experienced politicians, shrewd 
observers of public opinion, and they exercise a con- 
ciliatory influence over local dissensions for the inter- 
est of the whole party's welfare. For the conduct of 
the presidential campaign the committee is assisted by 
auxiliary committees, including an Executive Com- 
mittee, a Finance Committee, and a Campaign Com- 
mittee in charge of speakers, literary propaganda, and 
newspapers. 

The national chairman. — The chief officer of the 
National Committee is the national chairman, who may 
or may not be a member of the committee. Nominally 
chosen by the committee, he is really selected by the 
party's nominee for the Presidency. He is the mana- 
ger of the campaign, the chief strategist of the party. 



POLITICAL PARTIES 81 

He must be a man of great political wisdom, force- 
fulness, and tact. He must see to it that a compre- 
hensive campaign for educating the electorate is 
planned and effectively carried on in every part of the 
country, that the strong points in his party platform 
are emphasized, that the money raised for campaign 
purposes is wisely expended, and he must be able to 
infuse into his workers such a degree of confidence 
and enthusiasm that the entire country is thoroughly 
aroused. The national chairman must keep a watch- 
ful eye on the nominees of his party. He must decide 
whether they shall tour the country or carry on a 
"front-porch" campaign. Their public utterances must 
be carefully guarded as well as their daily program of 
activities. In the heat of a presidential campaign one 
injudicious letter, like Henry Clay's on Texas, or a 
single unfortunate phrase, such as "Rum, Romanism, 
and Rebellion," during the campaign of 1884, has cost 
a great political party the election. The national chair- 
man must keep a close touch with the State and local 
politics in all sections of the country. He must curb 
the selfish ambitions of party bosses, he must heal 
factional strife, and by means of compromises and 
conciliation weld his party in each State into a solid 
political unit. He must with unfailing judgment select 
the doubtful and the pivotal States and concentrate his 
energies on a supreme effort to carry them, while at the 
same time he must not neglect any portion of the coun- 
try that is "conceded to be safe." He must be alert 
to detect danger, to meet new situations, to answer sud- 
den attacks of the opposing political general, and to 
take instant advantage of every favorable development. 
And at the last he must summon every energy of his 
party workers to "get out the vote" on election day 



82 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

regardless of local conditions, for it has happened more 
than once in our national history that the difference 
of a very few votes in a single State has determined the 
result of a presidential campaign. Standing so near 
the President, the national chairman of a successful 
party has a large measure of federal patronage at his 
disposal. His own services may be rewarded by office, 
as when President McKinley, after the election of 
1896, helped Chairman Hanna into the United States 
Senate. 

Each of the major parties has a congressional cam- 
paign committee, selected from members of Congress. 
The purpose of this committee is to promote the elec- 
tion of candidates for Congress who belong to the 
party. 

State and local committees. — In each State the 
political parties have State committees which have 
immediate charge of the campaign for their respective 
areas. These committees are permanent, and act in 
the interest of the party not only during campaigns but 
between elections as well. The number of members 
varies in the different parties and States ; some of the 
State central committees have a membership of more 
than a hundred. The chairman of a State committee 
is the nominal head of his party in the State. Some- 
times he is a United States Senator, or a State official ; 
sometimes he is a mere puppet of a boss or a political 
leader. The committee raises funds for the party, 
sends forth speakers, distributes literature, and urges 
the local committees to activity. 

In every county, town, city, and ward there are local 
committees. These organizations come into actual con- 
tact with the voters. They are the fighting lines of 
the parties. They distribute literature prepared by the 



POLITICAL PARTIES 83 

National and State Committees ; they arrange for rallies 
and mass meetings which are addressed by the speakers 
sent out by the central organization; they instruct 
voters as to the requirements for registering and vot- 
ing and when and how to cast the ballot; they see to 
naturalization of aliens; they often make a house-to- 
house canvass of their district in order to estimate the 
party strength ; they appoint watchers at the polls ; and, 
finally, on election day, they bring the dilatory voters 
to the polls in automobiles and busses. It is this yeo- 
man service in the doubtful States that brings success 
to a party. The Utopian reformer is prone to scoff 
at the careful, painstaking work of these local organ- 
izations in pursuing the individual vote; but the pro- 
fessional politician is a better observer of human na- 
ture. He knows that very practical methods must be 
employed to interest the average voter in either party 
and finally induce him to take an hour of his time 
once in two years to cast his ballot. 

Parties and party organizations are thus an impor- 
tant part in the working of a large democracy. They 
place candidates and issues before the people and they 
urge the voter to use the franchise. It is true that 
parties often falsify public opinion, distort issues, and 
frequently there is practically little difference between 
the Republican and the Democratic platforms; but 
nevertheless our two-party system is the most prac- 
tical device for the expression of public opinion in 
our democracy. 

STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS 

Long before the federal constitution was adopted 
political factions existed in the States. After the estab- 
lishment of the Union these groups did not remain 



84 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

distinct from the national parties. They were absorbed 
by the national parties, and disappeared almost entirely 
as independent bodies. To-day, the parties in the 
States are branches or subdivisions of the national 
parties, although in no sense is the policy of a State 
party upon local issues dictated from the headquarters 
of its national party. The amalgamation of the parties 
is a convenient arrangement which permits the use of 
the same party machinery for presidential and for 
State elections. Of course the issues of the national 
parties generally have no relation to the issues involved 
in the government of the States ; and the voter who casts 
his ballot for one party in the national election may not 
agree with the policy of that party upon local problems 
in his State. Occasionally party lines break down in a 
State because of dissensions within the parties or be- 
cause of the failure of the parties to take a popular 
stand upon some nonpartisan issue. These exceptions, 
however, are not common. As a rule, State parties 
remain intact, Democrats and Republicans opposing 
each other at the polls for the control of the State 
government. Few voters do much independent think- 
ing on political issues. Most electors vote their party 
tickets year after year merely as a matter of habit; and 
probably the greater number of young men and women 
join a political party for the reason that their fathers 
and mothers belong to that party. 

Organization of the State parties. — At the head 
of the party organization in the State is the State Cen- 
tral Committee. This is composed of committeemen 
representing in some States the different congressional 
districts, in other States, the counties. They are fre- 
quently selected by the delegates to the State conven- 
tions ; but in States like Wisconsin, where the conven- 



POLITICAL PARTIES 85 

tion system has been abolished, the committeemen are 
elected by the voters in the direct primary. The terms 
of the committeemen vary in the different States from 
one to four years. The chairman of the State com- 
mittee is often a powerful political leader, as in case 
of Senator Quay of Pennsylvania, or in the case of 
Governor Odell of New York. Sometimes the chair- 
man is a mere figurehead and takes his orders from 
party leaders or "bosses." 

In' States where the State convention system still 
exists the central committee has the duty of calling the 
State convention consisting of delegates from the coun- 
ties. These delegates in their turn are elected either by 
county conventions or by county committees. Until a 
few years ago the State conventions nominated all the 
State officers and drafted the party platform. Re- 
cently in many States laws have been passed placing 
the nominations of candidates in the hands of the 
voters at the primaries. In most States the conven- 
tion still draws up the party platform and in some 
States the convention still nominates the party candi- 
dates. The conventions are called by the Central Com- 
mittee once every two years in States having biennial 
elections. 

Below the State Central Committee are the com- 
mittees in the counties, cities, wards, townships, and 
towns. These committees carry out the routine work 
of the party, urging the registration of voters, can- 
vassing from house to house, holding local rallies, 
providing carriages and automobiles to carry voters to 
the polls on election day, and, in general, mustering 
the full party strength at the elections. 

The "machine" and the "boss." — These terms 
have come to be commonly used to designate certain 



86 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

very serious abuses in American political methods. In 
a former paragraph a political party has been defined 
as the method or machinery by which the members of 
the electorate are able to select representatives to carry 
out the provisions of the constitution and all laws 
framed under such provisions. When the electors are 
vitally interested in public affairs, intelligent and alert, 
we hear very little of "machine rule" and "party 
bosses." But wherever the average voter is more inter- 
ested in business than in the future of his children and 
the welfare of his neighbors, when respectable men 
and women possessing the right of franchise abdicate 
their power in favor of the bribe-taker and the poten- 
tial or real criminal, where they shirk civic duties and 
permit treasury-looters to get control of the party 
organization and to perpetuate themselves or their 
kind in office, there will be found every form of evil 
controlled and commercialized by "machines" and 
"bosses." 

We should carefully distinguish between party or- 
ganization and the so-called machine. Party organ- 
ization is the pyramid of committees from the National 
Committee and the State Committees down to the local 
committees in the wards and townships. It is true that 
occasionally the machine is identical with some of these 
committees or else is able to control them. Thus Tam- 
many Hall is actually the Democratic organization in 
New York City, while the Philadelphia machine is the 
Republican organization in that city. In Illinois the 
Thompson-Lundin machine controls the Republican 
organization of the city of Chicago and has consider- 
able influence over the Republican organizations in 
several of the counties of the State. In Indiana the 
Taggart machine has dominated the Democratic organ- 






POLITICAL PARTIES 87 

ization of the State for a long period of years. But 
usually a machine is limited to an area less than an 
entire State ; and thus it is possible to find several ma- 
chines within the same party in a single State. As a 
rule, there is only one Republican or Democratic organ- 
ization for a State and, happily, in some States there 
are no machines. The motives of the members of a 
party organization and of a machine are somewhat 
different. The former seek to advance the interests of 
the party. The latter subordinate party interests to 
their own personal advantages and are frequently will- 
ing to sacrifice the party for the gain of the machine. 

The men in control of the machine are frequently 
called "bosses." In a city machine there is generally 
a "boss" for the city and a "boss" for each ward. The 
lesser "bosses" are sometimes called henchmen or 
"heelers," and many of them are men of very shady 
character. The chief quality required in a political 
leader who aspires to become a boss is skill in handling 
men. There is a fundamental distinction, of course, 
between a boss and a political leader of the type which 
we like to consider as the American ideal. As Roose- 
velt put it : "The difference between a boss and a leader 
is that a leader leads and a boss drives. The difference 
is that a leader holds his place by firing the conscience 
and appealing to the reason of his followers and that 
a boss derives the greater part of his power from deeds 
done under cover of darkness." 

The versatility of an astute boss is remarkable. He 
knows where to secure campaign funds, and he is 
judicious in distribution of these funds; he is a sort 
of social leader for the community, and a dispenser 
of charity with a reputation for being "kind to the 
poor" ; he has business relations with corporations in- 



88 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

terested in building public works, supplying mate- 
rials, or operating public utilities, and, on occasion, he 
may blackmail corporations and fill his pockets with 
their hush-money. Almost incredible stories are told 
of the power of certain bosses. A few years ago vis- 
itors at the capitol of Rhode Island were shown an 
office room where the "State boss" used to sit and 
issue his orders during the sessions of the legislature. 
In Missouri at one time the "boss" was accustomed 
to sit behind a curtain back of the speaker's chair and 
from there direct the legislative business. 

Political machines and bosses comprise what Mr. 
Root has aptly called "invisible government." 

Reasons for the existence of political machines. — 
The political machine is an institution peculiar to 
America. It has thrived in our land because of sev- 
eral reasons. 

(i) In the first place our elections are more fre- 
quent than in European countries. A few States elect 
their governors and legislatures annually and most 
States elect these officers at least as frequently as every 
two years. Even in States and cities where the terms 
of office are two years elections are nevertheless held 
in every year. For example, the term of aldermen 
in Chicago is two years but there are two aldermen 
from each ward and one is elected each year. This 
frequency of elections has promoted the growth of 
machines. If elections were as far apart as four or 
six years, as in some European countries, the local 
machines could not so easily hold together. 

(2) In the second place the multiplicity of elective 
offices has contributed to the growth of machines. 
There are so many officers elected by popular vote that 
the average elector does not know even the list of elec- 



POLITICAL PARTIES 89 

tive offices, to say nothing of knowing the candidates 
or their qualifications for office. The average voter 
thus must depend upon some direction as to casting 
his ballot or else take the easiest course and vote the 
straight party ticket. The leaders of the machine, 
however, are well informed as to elective offices and 
make it their business to control as far as possible the 
party nomination of candidates for these offices. 

(3) In the third place the machine is an organiza- 
tion for securing public patronage. It is the essence 
of the spoils system. The men who labor year after 
year to build up a local machine are not working with 
motives of pure patriotism. Undoubtedly some of 
the leaders in a machine may have noble ambitions, or 
love of power, rather than motives of mere financial 
gain. But the majority of the political workers who 
canvass the voters, watch the polls and do the drudgery 
of the machine expect to receive the loaves and fishes 
as a reward for their labors. They expect to get an 
office or employment b> the city or State. Some 
workers want other things, like the award of a con- 
tract to construct public works or to furnish supplies. 
Particularly in the large cities the opportunities for 
jobbing and graft are numerous. For example, in 
1908 it was discovered that the government of New 
York City had paid some one sixty-five cents apiece 
for cheap coat hooks which any citizen might buy at 
a hardware store for five cents ; at the same time it took 
two workmen thirty-one days at eight dollars a day 
to put up the one hundred and sixty-five hooks ! Petty 
graft, however, is but one part of the story. Contracts 
for building, hauling materials, and other work involv- 
ing millions of dollars have been let at exorbitant 
prices. Finally, the leaders of a machine are often 



9o AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

closely connected with interests like public-service utili- 
ties or other concerns which receive favors from the 
State legislature and city councils and which contribute 
to the financial support of the machine. 

(4) A large number of other reasons account for the 
existence of the machine. Our cities are full of for- 
eign immigrants, and until recently few Americans 
save political workers have shown an interest in urging 
them to take out citizenship papers and secure the bal- 
lot. Machines in the cities are also frequently sup- 
ported by professional law-breakers, bailsmen of ill- 
repute, and keepers of dives and criminal resorts 
who have arranged with the machine for pro- 
tection against prosecution under the law. The 
political apathy of many citizens and the slavish 
devotion to party by other citizens are also con- 
tributing causes to the great power of political ma- 
chines. Finally, the leaders and workers for a machine 
exert themselves to spread good fellowship and com- 
radeship in their wards. They learn to know the 
voters, speak a friendly greeting to them as they pass 
on the streets, watch for opportunities to be of per- 
sonal service to some workingman and his family, and, 
in time, they build up a reputation for democratic 
kindness and good will which is not forgotten when 
election day comes around. Some political societies 
like Tammany Hall are charitable and social institu- 
tions, giving relief to widows and orphans and oc- 
casionally furnishing balls and entertainments. The 
astute managers of our political machines have 
searched the human heart exhaustively in devising 
means for promoting their control of the popular vote. 

American ideals in politics. — Anyone who un- 
derstands America knows that the mismanagement and 



POLITICAL PARTIES 91 

corruption which have characterized much of our State 
and local history in the last half century is not typical 
of the American spirit. Why it has happened will be 
one of the puzzles for future historians. The Ameri- 
can ideal is something finer and nobler than that 
indicated by the character of many of our city govern- 
ments. The morals of our people are admittedly on 
a higher plane than those of European people, although 
grafters and blackmailers do not govern European 
cities. This nation is composed of a great collection 
of people, the majority of whom, even including the 
immigrants, are of sound judgment. There is no need 
to despair of American democracy. It is true that in 
our country democratic principles have often been mis- 
applied and certainly abused; but we may confidently 
expect that the regard of the American people for 
efficiency and honesty will find a remedy for present 
defects in our government. 

For Further Reading 

The Character and the Purpose of Political 
Parties. — P. O. Ray, Introduction to Political Parties 
and Practical Politics, ch. i; A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion 
and Popular Government, pp. 57-110; Jesse Macy, Party 
Organisation and Machinery, ch. i, ii; H. J. Ford, Rise 
and Grozvth of American Politics, ch. xxvi ; James Bryce, 
American Commonwealth, II, ch. liii-liv ; Woodrow Wil- 
son, Constitutional Government in the United States, ch. 
viii; H. C. Emory, Politician, Party and People, ch. ii; 
E. L. Godkin, Problems of Modern Democracy, ch. vii. 

The History of the Parties in the United States. 
— C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, ch. 
vi; J. A. Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Prob- 
lems in the United States, ch. i-viii; Everett Kimball, 
National Government of the United States, ch. v; Ed- 



92 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ward Stanwood, History of the Presidency, I, ch. xxxi; 
F. E. Haynes, Third Party Movements Since the Civil 
War, pp. 221-303 ; B. P. DeWitt, The Progressive Move- 
ment, ch. i. 

Organization of the National Parties. — P. O. 
Ray, Introduction to Political Parties and Practical 
Politics, ch. x-xi; James Bryce, American Common- 
wealth, II, ch. lv-lx; M. Ostrogorski, Democracy and 
Party System in the United States (1910), pp. 225-281 ; 
J. T. Young, New American Government and Its Work, 
ch. xxvi; Everett Kimball, National Government in the 
United States, ch. vi; C. A. Beard, American Govern- 
ment and Politics, ch. ix. 

Political Parties in the States. — P. O. Ray, In- 
troduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 
240-242; James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, 
ch. xlvi ; C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, 
pp. 656-672; and his Readings, ch. xxx; W. B. Munro, 
Government of the United States, ch. xxxiii ; C. L. Jones, 
Readings on Parties and Elections in the United States, 
pp. 169-21 1, 274-334; C. E. Hughes, Conditions and 
Progress in Democratic Government, ch. iii-iv. 

Machines and Bosses. — P. O. Ray, Introduction to 
Political Parties and Practical Politics, ch. xvi; James 
Bryce, American Commonwealth, II, ch. lx-lxvi; M. 
Ostrogorski, Democracy and the Party System in the 
United States, ch. xl; Lincoln Steffens, The Struggles 
for Self Government, pp. 3-78-; George Vickers, The 
Fall of Bossism, ch. ii-viii; S. P. Orth, The Boss and 
the Machine, ch. ii-viii. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PRESIDENT 

The President of the United States is the head of 
the executive branch of the federal government. 
While it is the function of Congress to make the laws, 
it is the function of the President to execute the laws. 
In order to insure the faithful execution of the laws, 
the Fathers of the American constitution centered ad- 
ministrative responsibility upon one official. Because 
of this great burden of responsibility the President is 
the most conspicuous figure in American political life. 

THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT 

In providing for the election of the President, the 
Fathers aimed to secure some plan that would ex- 
clude political parties from participation. Accordingly, 
they rejected the plan of direct election of the President 
by the people, and adopted a scheme of Presidential 
Electors. Under the constitution, every four years, 
each State was to appoint, in such manner as the legis- 
lature thereof should direct, a number of Presidential 
Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and 
Representatives to which the State might be entitled 
in Congress. The Electors were to meet at their re- 
spective State Capitols and vote by ballot for two 
persons, one of whom should not be a resident of the 
same State as themselves. The ballots were to be 
sent to the presiding officer of the United States Sen- 
ate, who should open and count them. The person 

93 



94 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

having the highest number of votes was to become 
President providing he had a majority of the electoral 
votes, and the person having second highest was to 
become Vice-President. If no person had a majority, 
the House of Representatives was to choose a Presi- 
dent from the five highest names on the list. The 
Fathers hoped that the choice of a President by the 
Presidential Electors in each State would be the well- 
considered act of a thoughtful and nonpartisan group 
of men. 

The first presidential election, in January, 1789, 
which was in favor of Washington, conformed to the 
plan of the Fathers. But after the retirement of 
Washington the political parties sought to control the 
election. In 1800 the Federalist members of Congress 
nominated Adams and Pinckney for President and 
Vice-President, while the Jeffersonian Republicans 
nominated Jefferson and Burr. The result of the 
election was seventy-three votes for both Jefferson 
and Burr, and only sixty-five for the Federalist candi- 
dates. This threw the election into the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and because of the awkward situation 
which developed on account of Burr's disloyalty to 
Jefferson, a constitutional amendment was adopted in 
1804 requiring that thereafter the Presidential Elec- 
tors were to use separate ballots for President and 
Vice-President. 

The present method of electing the President. — 
The constitution has not been altered. in regard to the 
election of President since 1804, but the method of 
election has been considerably modified by custom. 
There are at present six steps in the election of Presi- 
dent : ( 1 ) the selection of delegates to the nominating 
convention, (2) the choice of candidates by the nomi- 



THE PRESIDENT 95 

nating convention, (3) the selection of the tickets of 
Presidential Electors, (4) the presidential campaign, 
(5) the November election, and (6) the election of 
President by the Electors. 

(1) Selection of delegates to the nominating con- 
vention. — Each of the great political parties chooses 
its candidate for the Presidency in a national nominat- 
ing convention. The time and place of these conven- 
tions is decided by the National Committee of each 
party. The National Committee is the permanent cen- 
tral party organization and consists of forty-eight rep- 
resentatives, one from each of the States. The chair- 
man of this organization in either party, known as the 
National Committee chairman, is a powerful figure in 
party politics. 

In a presidential year the National Committees call 
their respective conventions to meet in June or July. 
In late years the Republicans have met in Chicago ; the 
Democrats in Baltimore, Saint Louis, and San Fran- 
cisco, and the Socialists in New York. The conventions 
are composed of delegates from the various States 
and territories. The Democrats permit each State to 
send twice as many delegates as it has electoral votes. 
The number of Electors of a State, as we have already 
seen, corresponds with its representation in Congress. 
Each State has, therefore, four delegates chosen at 
large corresponding to the two Senators; and for 
every member of the House of Representatives it has 
two delegates. Furthermore, the District of Columbia, 
Hawaii, the Philippines, and Porto Rico are per- 
mitted to send six delegates each. Thus the Demo- 
cratic Convention of 1920 had one thousand and 
ninety-four delegates. In the same year the Republi- 
can Convention consisted of four delegates-at-large 



96 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

from each State, two additional delegates-at-large for 
each representative-at-large in Congress from any State, 
one delegate from each congressional district in each 
State, and one additional delegate for each congres- 
sional district in each State in which the vote for any 
Republican Presidential Elector in the presidential elec- 
tion of 19 1 6, or for the Republican nominee for Con- 
gress in the congressional election of 191 8, was not less 
than 7,500; together with two delegates each from 
Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands and 
the District of Columbia. The purpose of this compli- 
cated system was to eliminate the undue representation 
of Southern States, in which the Republican vote is 
very small, and thus to abolish the abuse which was 
partly the cause of the Taft-Roosevelt controversy of 
19 12. Alabama, having ten Congressional districts, 
sent twenty delegates together with four delegates-at- 
large to the Democratic Convention in 1920, while 
sending only ten delegates together with the four dele- 
gates-at-large to the Republican Convention. At the 
Chicago Convention in 1920 there were nine hundred 
and eighty- four delegates. 

The delegates to the National Conventions are se- 
lected by two methods, namely, by the direct primary 
or by party conventions in the States. In 19 12 the 
laws of twelve States provided for some form of 
presidential primaries. In this year the Democratic 
National Convention adopted the principle of the 
presidential primary (conducted under either State 
laws or party rules) as the approved method for selec- 
tion of delegates to the National Convention of 19 16. 
In 191 3 the Republican Party, while not going so far 
as the Democratic Party, recognized the presidential 
primary as the legal process for choosing delegates 



THE PRESIDENT 97 

when such elections were required under State laws. 
By 19 1 6, twenty States had adopted laws requiring 
presidential primaries. 

In fourteen States the delegates are chosen in presi- 
dential preference primaries. In these States the reg- 
istered members of the several parties have the right 
to elect delegates and alternates, and at the same 
time to instruct them to vote for a certain candidate as 
the nominee of the party for the Presidency. The 
primaries are held in each congressional district. Can- 
didates for the position of delegates secure the placing 
of their names upon the primary ballots by filing a 
petition with the proper State official signed by a pre- 
scribed number of voters; while the names of various 
candidates for the Presidency also are placed upon 
the ballots by similar petition. 

Each party has a separate ballot. The registered 
members of the several parties at the primary elections 
are given their proper ballots and they vote for their 
choice of delegates, while at the same time they indicate 
which candidate for the Presidency they desire the 
delegates to support in the nominating convention. 
The States having presidential preference primaries 
for the selection of national delegates are Illinois, Mon- 
tana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, North 
Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 
West Virginia and Wisconsin. In the remaining 
States the delegates are chosen either in primaries 
without instructions, or are appointed by the State 
party conventions which are convened in some States 
shortly before the meeting of the national conven- 
tions. The members of the various party conventions 
in the States are frequently chosen by county commit- 
tees or caucuses. In five States, Indiana, Maryland, 



98 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Michigan, North Carolina and Vermont, a preference 
vote is taken on the presidential aspirants, but the na- 
tional delegates are not elected in the direct primaries. 

(2) Work of the national conventions. — The na- 
tional convention accomplishes two things. It adopts 
a platform defining the position of the party on the 
problems of the day, and it nominates candidates for 
President and Vice-President. The platform is a cam- 
paign document. It "views with alarm" and "points 
with warning to" certain conditions in the country 
for which it holds the opposing party responsible ; and 
it promises reforms which will be secured if the party 
wins in the November election. 

The nomination of the presidential candidate, of 
course, is the chief business of the convention. While 
the majority of the delegates may be uninstructed, 
considerable sentiment has usually been manufactured 
in favor of each of the various aspirants. Campaign 
headquarters are set up in the hotels. The sessions of 
the convention are held in a gigantic auditorium gaily 
bedecked with flags and bunting and with pictures of 
the candidates and of celebrated leaders of the past. 
The national committeemen and distinguished visitors 
sit on a huge platform. Immediately below are placed 
the representatives of the press, while the delegates are 
seated on the main floor, with the alternates sitting di- 
rectly behind them. The places of the delegates are 
indicated by standards bearing the names of their 
respective States and territories. Further in the rear, 
and in the galleries, sit a multitude of spectators. 

On the second or third day of the convention the 
candidates are put in nomination. For this purpose 
the States are called in alphabetical order. Great care 
is used in selecting the proper orator to make the nomi- 



THE PRESIDENT 99 

nating speech. Seconding speeches are also made, the 
most effective speech in the Chicago Convention of 
1920 being a seconding speech delivered by a woman, 
Mrs. Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, a sister of "T. R." 
After the nomination of each candidate it is customary 
to begin a demonstration. The interested delegates 
and alternates march up and down the aisles shouting 
and singing; desperate struggles over State banners 
sometimes occur; brass bands blare out popular airs; 
cowbells and horns add to the din, and cheer leaders 
exert themselves to stir up the spectators in the gal- 
leries to shout and hurrah. 

It used to be thought that this applause from the 
galleries had some influence with the delegates. But 
to-day few would claim that such boisterous outbursts 
produce any real effect. The seasoned politicians who 
constitute the bulk of the convention and practically 
control the less experienced members of their delega- 
tions understand that these exhibitions of approval are 
manufactured for the occasion. 

After the nomination of candidates the balloting be- 
gins. The roll is again called and the States cast their 
ballots orally in alphabetical order. Seldom is a candi- 
date nominated on the first ballot. In the Republican 
convention a majority vote nominates. But the Demo- 
cratic convention requires a two-thirds vote. In both 
conventions the balloting may go on for several days. 
In 19 1 2 Woodrow Wilson did not win in the Demo- 
cratic convention at Baltimore until the forty-sixth 
ballot. Feverish excitement prevails during the ballot- 
ing and in the intervals between the sessions. In the 
committee rooms and at the headquarters of the State 
delegations conferences are held far into the night. 
Messengers run from one headquarters to another, 



ioo AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

private meetings are arranged behind closed doors be- 
tween political leaders, and clever tactics are employed 
by eager managers to secure a concentration of votes 
upon their candidates, while old-time "bosses" with 
their own axes to grind watch for an opportunity to 
secure some advantage for themselves. Throughout 
this turmoil the members of the State delegations re- 
main somewhat closely together. Each delegation has 
its chairman, and its headquarters in some hotel. They 
proceed to the convention hall in a body, sit in a body 
on the main floor, and hold meetings from time to time 
to decide upon their course of action. 

Political alliances are usually necessary to gain the 
votes of delegates. The "bosses" of the various State 
"machines" usually are present in the conventions as 
delegates from their States, or else they are in com- 
munication with the leaders of the convention. Their 
influence, although not all-powerful, is a great deciding 
force. 

( 3) Selection of the tickets of Presidential Electors. 
— The national conventions place the nominees of the 
various parties before the American people. But the 
people do not vote directly for these candidates in the 
November election. They vote in each State for tickets 
of Presidential Electors named by the various parties. 
These tickets are nominated either by State conventions 
or by the primaries. Until recently all tickets of 
Presidential Electors were presented by State conven- 
tions of the various political parties ; but now a number 
of States have supplanted these institutions with the di- 
rect primary method. In the latter case primaries are 
held for the Democratic and Republican voters. The 
names of candidates for Presidential Electors in either 
party are placed on the primary ballot by petition, and 



THE PRESIDENT 101 

the people in each congressional district vote for one 
Elector and for two Electors-at-large for the whole 
State. 

(4) The national campaigns and the November 
election. — In a presidential year, the election of Presi- 
dent and of congressmen both occur at the same time. 
This is on the Tuesday following the first Monday in 
November, as fixed by Congress in 1871. During the 
four months previous to the election all the parties 
conduct a nation-wide campaign. The organization 
which the political parties use to win elections is 
headed by the National Committee. Below the Na- 
tional Committee are the State committees, the county 
committees, the town and city committees, the ward 
committees and many other committees of various 
sorts and kinds. In charge of the National Committee 
is a national chairman, who is nominally chosen by 
that committee but who is really the choice of the presi- 
dential candidate. The national chairman is the great 
leader of the presidential campaign. He manages the 
contest, allots the campaign funds among the States, 
and directs the energies of his party. 

Early in the campaign each party prepares a cam- 
paign textbook containing the platform, the notifica- 
tion and acceptance speeches of the candidates for 
President and Vice-President, the biographies of the 
candidates, speeches and addresses of distinguished 
congressmen, criticisms upon the opposing party and 
arguments, statistics and comments upon business, 
currency, immigration, the tariff, the League of Na- 
tions, and other issues of the day. Large numbers of 
these textbooks are distributed to newspapers, maga- 
zines, speakers, and campaign committees. For the 
general public a vast amount of pamphlets, speeches, 



102 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

cartoons, and posters are published and distributed. 
The United States Senators and Representatives 
usually take an active part in the speech-making, and 
the presidential candidates enter the campaign. In 
1896 Mr. Bryan made a grand tour of the country, 
delivering six hundred speeches in twenty-nine States 
and covering an itinerary of eighteen thousand miles. 
A representative of the Associated Press estimated that 
he spoke to five million people. Mr. McKinley stayed 
at home, but from the porch of his house in Canton, 
Ohio, he addressed many large delegations. 

Nothing stirs American sentiment more than a 
presidential election. Our imagination is awakened. 
Eloquence abounds. Dry statistics become interesting, 
and the dullest citizen will generally have some opinion 
as to the personalities of the candidates even though he 
fail to examine the economic or political policies offered 
by the opposing parties. A presidential election is the 
transcendent event of our national life and a great 
means of political education. 

(5) Election of the President by the Electors. — As 
we have already said, the people at the November elec- 
tion do not vote directly for President, but for tickets 
of Presidential Electors. The party ticket in each State 
having the highest number of votes wins the election. 
The duly chosen Electors meet at the State capitols in 
the following January and cast their ballots for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President. Of course there is no legal 
obligation compelling the Electors to vote for the can- 
didate of their party. The moral obligation, however, 
is strong. They were nominated at the primaries and 
elected at the November polls with the understanding 
that they would vote for the party candidates. With 
the possible exception of the election of 1797, no 



THE PRESIDENT 103 

Elector has ever broken this implied pledge. If, at 
some time in the future, faith should be broken, the 
episode would probably lead to a constitutional amend- 
ment providing for the abandonment of our present 
roundabout method of electing a President and sub- 
stituting direct election by the people. 

The electoral certificates are sent to the presiding 
officer of the Senate, who, in February, in the presence 
of the two houses of Congress, opens the certificates 
and causes the electoral votes to be counted. This act, 
like the meeting of the Electors at the State capitols, 
is but a formality. The result of the election is always 
known two months earlier, generally on the morning 
following the November election. 

THE POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT 

In modern democracies there are two kinds of ex- 
ecutives: the parliamentary, and the presidential. In 
a parliamentary government the Prime Minister is 
chosen by the legislature and holds office as long as his 
party remains in power. Great Britain is the leading 
type of this form of government. In a presidential 
government, on the other hand, the Chief Executive is 
elected by the people and holds office for a stated term 
of years, independently of the legislature. The Presi- 
dent of the United States is an executive of this sort. 
Mexico and the South American republics have copied 
the presidential form of government as found in the 
United States, while many of the European democ- 
racies and the self-governing dominions of the British 
Empire have adopted a modified form of the parlia- 
mentary government of Great Britain. 

The principal virtue of the parliamentary form of 
executive is that the responsibility for both making 



104 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

laws and executing laws is concentrated upon one 
official who may be turned out of office at any time 
that the majority of the elected representatives of the 
people so choose; or, if he appeals to the people as 
against the majority in Parliament by having the king 
dissolve Parliament and order elections, the voters de- 
cide the matter. The Prime Minister is a leader of 
Parliament as well as head of the administration. On 
the other hand it should be observed that in spite of 
the Theory of Checks and Balances, the President of 
the United States in recent years has assumed a quali- 
fied role as leader of Congress. It is true that the 
powers and functions of the President are prescribed 
in the constitution. Nevertheless, in actual practice the 
influence of the President is not to be measured by the 
mere letter of the law. His ability to appeal to public 
opinion, his personal influence with politicians, and his 
sagacity and judgment will determine the limits of his 
influence upon the national government. Under the 
constitution he is the undisputed head of the adminis- 
tration; but by virtue of his exalted position he has 
it within his power to become leader of his party, 
leader of the nation, and leader of Congress. 

The powers and functions of the President may be 
classified under five heads : ( I ) the strictly executive 
or administrative powers, (2) diplomatic, (3) mili- 
tary, (4) legislative, and (5) political. 

The strictly executive powers of the President. — 
The President as head of the national administration 
possesses the power of appointment, the power of re- 
moval and the power to pardon. The President's 
power of appointment is not unlimited. The constitu- 
tion (Art. ii, sec. 2) provides that the President shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent 



THE PRESIDENT 105 

of the Senate, shall appoint the more important 
officers. The President thus shares the appointive 
power with the Senate. Because of this division 
of power a custom called "senatorial courtesy" 
has become a part of our unwritten constitution, 
namely, the Senate will generally refuse to confirm a 
nomination if the President has failed to consult with 
the Senators of his own party from the State in which 
the vacant office lies. Thus, before nominating a per- 
son to the office of United States District Attorney in 
Missouri the President will consult with the Senators 
from that State, provided they are of the same party as 
his own. There are, however, some nominations which 
the Senate usually confirms without question, for in- 
stance, the members of the President's Cabinet. 

The power to remove is generally considered one 
of the indispensable powers of an efficient adminis- 
tration. The constitution makes no provision for re- 
moval save by impeachment, but the Supreme Court 
has held that the President has power to remove all 
officers unless such removal is specifically denied by 
the constitution. This applies even to officers whose 
nomination requires the confirmation of the Senate. 
Federal judges may be removed only by impeachment. 

The President also possesses the power to grant re- 
prieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
States laws except in cases of impeachment. 

Diplomatic powers. — The diplomatic powers of 
the President are of vast importance. The President 
is the official spokesman of the nation, as Jefferson in- 
formed Citizen Genet as early as 1793, and the for- 
eign policy of the nation is very largely in his hands. 
It is true that all treaties require a two-thirds vote of 
the Senate, that the nomination of ambassadors, min- 



106 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

isters, and consuls requires senatorial confirmation, 
and that an act of Congress is often necessary for the 
execution of treaties. Nevertheless, the President 
takes the initiative in the formulation of a foreign 
policy and the Senate must play the role of either fol- 
lowing or objecting. 

The constitution provides that the President shall 
receive all ambassadors and public ministers from for- 
eign states. Under this provision the President may 
receive a minister from a government in rebellion with 
the mother-country, and thus cause the United States 
to recognize the independence of the revolting section 
of that country. In 1903 Mr. Roosevelt thus recog- 
nized the Republic of Panama in rebellion against 
Colombia. The President may also dismiss an am- 
bassador of a foreign power in the United States, and 
sever all diplomatic relations with that power, as Mr. 
Wilson did in regard to Germany in 191 7, two months 
previous to the declaration of war by Congress. As 
commander-in-chief of the army and navy the Presi- 
dent may move the armed forces of the nation in such 
a way as to lead the United States into war. In 1904 
President Roosevelt informed Kaiser Wilhelm that he 
would send Admiral Dewey with the Atlantic squadron 
to raise the "pacific blockade" of Venezuela if the 
German cruisers were not withdrawn in ten days* time. 
If an engagement had occurred between the two fleets, 
Congress might have been compelled to declare war. 
In 1846, after the annexation of Texas, President Polk 
dispatched federal troops into the disputed territory, 
and after the attack upon these troops the President in- 
formed Congress that war had been begun by the act 
of Mexico. In his messages to Congress the President 
may pronounce a foreign policy which profoundly af- 



THE PRESIDENT 107 

f ects our international relations. In this manner Presi- 
dent Monroe established the celebrated Monroe Doc- 
trine; and President Cleveland, in 1896, by means of 
his message to Congress precipitated the Venezuelan 
controversy with Great Britain. 

It is proper, of course, that the President should 
possess such large diplomatic powers. In our relations 
with foreign countries it is necessary that the nation 
act unitedly and that full responsibility be borne by a 
single official rather than scattered among a group of 
less responsible and less conspicuous leaders. 

Military powers. — Under the constitution the Presi- 
dent is the commander-in-chief of the army and navy 
of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
States when called into the service of the federal gov- 
ernment. During wartime the conduct of hostilities 
is almost entirely in the hands of the President, and 
his power is not limited to the mere direction of the 
armed forces. Under his own power he may, for in- 
stance, govern conquered territories. President Lin- 
coln, whose exercise of war powers was extremely 
extensive, suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 
States which were not within the area of hostilities, 
abolished slavery in several States, and proclaimed a 
blockade of Southern ports without authority from 
Congress. 

Even in times of peace the military power of the 
President is important. He may use the regular army 
to enforce federal law against resistance that cannot 
be overcome by civil authority. The constitution pro- 
vides that "the United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of government, 
and shall protect each of them against invasion; and 
on application of the legislature, or of the executive 



108 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

(when the legislature cannot be convened) against do- 
mestic violence.'' Accordingly, at the solicitation of 
State governments, the United States has occasionally 
dispatched armed forces to the assistance of a State. 
The federal government may even send troops into a 
State against the protest of the governor in order to 
suppress any disorder which interferes with the execu- 
tion of federal law. Thus President Cleveland, in 
1894, against the protest of Governor Altgeld, used the 
federal army to prevent the rioters in the Pullman 
strike in Chicago from interfering with the passage of 
the United States mail. The Supreme Court in the 
Debs case held that the President had not exceeded his 
authority. 

Legislative powers. — Although the President is 
the head of the executive branch of the government, 
nevertheless he has certain legislative powers. Under 
the constitution he is required from time to time to 
give to Congress information of the state of the Union 
and to recommend to their consideration such meas- 
ures as he may judge necessary and expedient. The 
President's annual message in December is the most 
conspicuous public document in America. It is printed 
in all newspapers of any size and is read by thousands 
of citizens all over the country. It is one of the com- 
mon bonds of our national life. A homely cartoon 
was published in the press some years ago under the 
caption "His Favorite Author," showing an old 
farmer with chin whiskers, sitting before the fire 
and reading the President's message. Many citi- 
zens who never or seldom read a speech by a Senator 
or Representative will study the address of the Presi- 
dent. Washington used to deliver his annual address 
to Congress in person, driving to the federal hall in a 



THE PRESIDENT 109 

coach and four; but Jefferson began the practice of 
sending all messages in writing. In 19 13 Mr. Wilson 
revived the practice of Washington and read his an- 
nual message in person before both houses of Congress, 
and Mr. Harding followed Mr. Wilson in this respect. 

Congress ordinarily convenes early in December of 
each year, but the President has power to summon 
special sessions of Congress. Frequently a new Presi- 
dent will summon a special session of Congress in 
April following his inauguration in order to redeem 
the election pledges of the presidential campaign. The 
President also has it in his power to promote legisla- 
tion in various other ways. He may not only urge 
Congress by message to pass legislation on a given 
subject, but he also may draft a bill himself or cause 
his cabinet officers to draft a bill and have it intro- 
duced in one of the houses by some member friendly 
to the administration. Such bills are called "adminis- 
tration bills." Then the President and his cabinet 
officers by interviews with individual congressmen may 
use their influence to secure the passage of these bills. 

Finally the President has the power of veto. The 
constitution (Art. i, sec. 7) provides that every bill 
passed by the two houses of Congress shall, before be- 
coming law be presented to the President. If he ap- 
proves, he signs it; but if not, he returns it with 
his objections to the house in which it originated. 
Such a bill, if passed again by a two-thirds majority 
of both houses, becomes law without the President's 
signature. Now it is difficult to pass a bill over the 
President's veto, and because of this fact the veto 
power of the President is important. President Roose- 
velt went so far as to inform Congress that if certain 
bills under consideration were passed without his pro- 



no AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

posed modifications he would veto them. Later Presi- 
dents have followed this practice. 

Under the constitution a bill passed by both houses 
becomes a law without the President's signature if he 
fails to return it within ten days unless Congress in the 
meantime has adjourned. Occasionally a President has 
permitted a bill which he did not heartily indorse, to 
become a law in this manner, On the other hand, a large 
number of bills are passed hurriedly at the end of every 
session. Of course the President approves most of 
these bills. Sometimes, however, a President has in- 
tentionally neglected to sign a bill passed within ten 
days of the adjournment of Congress. This is called 
the "pocket veto." 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the veto 
power has seldom if ever been abused by a President. 
This check upon hasty and unwise legislation is one of 
the best features of our government; and while the 
chief executive may well hesitate to oppose the will 
of the majority of the national legislature, neverthe- 
less, there are occasions when he should fearlessly use 
his powers. Chief Justice Taft would even go fur- 
ther than this. In his book on Our Chief Magistrate 
he has proposed that the veto power of the President 
should be extended by constitutional amendment em- 
powering him to veto separate items in bills without 
vetoing the entire bill. Such an amendment would 
permit a President to eliminate worthless "riders" or 
extravagant items for the expenditure of public funds 
which politicians in Congress frequently attach to 
otherwise excellent measures. 

Political powers. — In recent years it has become 
customary to consider the President as the leader of 
his party. Roosevelt was unquestionably the leader of 



THE PRESIDENT in 

his party during his two terms of office. Taft was not 
so fortunate in asserting his leadership in competition 
with Speaker Cannon and other powerful members of 
Congress; but Wilson secured and maintained the 
leadership of his party from the beginning to the end 
of his term of office, while Harding was compelled 
against his inclination to assume leadership as early as 
the special session of Congress called in April, 192 1. 

The President feels a greater obligation to carry out 
the election pledges of his party than do the individual 
congressmen. The Republican Party platform in 1908 
contained a plank pledging the party to a reform of 
the tariff, but the framers of the Payne-Aldrich Bill in 
1909 ignored these pledges. Accordingly, President 
Taft threatened to veto the bill unless changes were 
made in the proposed tariff, and although he was not 
able to effect a complete fulfillment of preelection 
pledges he was able to secure a compromise. In 19 13 
President Wilson won a complete victory over the 
leaders of his party in Congress who opposed his at- 
tempt to redeem the Democratic platform pledges. In 
speaking of the President's political position Mr. Taft 
has well said : "Under our system of politics the Presi- 
dent is the head of the party which elected him, and 
cannot escape responsibility either for his own execu- 
tive work or for the legislative policy of his party in 
both houses. He is, under the constitution, himself a 
part of the legislature in so far as he is called upon to 
approve or disapprove acts of Congress. A President 
who took no interest in legislation, who sought to exer- 
cise no influence to formulate measures, who altogether 
ignored his responsibility as the head of the party for 
carrying out ante-election promises in the matter of 
new laws, would not be doing what is expected of him 



ii2 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

by the people. In the discharge of all his duties, ex- 
ecutive or otherwise, he is bound to a certain extent to 
consult the wishes and even the prejudices of the 
members of his party in both houses, in order that 
there shall be secured a unity of action by which neces- 
sary progress may be made and needed measures 
adopted." 1 

Of course when the President and one or both 
houses of Congress are of the opposite parties, the 
effectiveness of the President's political leadership is 
greatly impaired. In the last two years of Taft's ad- 
ministration the House of Representatives was in the 
control of the Democrats, while in the last two years 
of Wilson's administration both the House and the 
Senate were in control of the Republicans. 

THE PRESIDENT'S CABINET 

While the burden of responsibility for the execution 
of the laws rests upon the President, the actual work 
of administration is accomplished by the heads of the 
departments who comprise the President's Cabinet. 
This body consists of eleven members, namely, 
i. The Vice-President. 

2. Secretary of State. 

3. Secretary of the Treasury. 

4. Secretary of War. 

5. Attorney-General. 

6. Postmaster-General. 

7. Secretary of the Navy. 

8. Secretary of the Interior. 

9. Secretary of Agriculture. 

10. Secretary of Commerce. 

11. Secretary of Labor. 

l Four Aspects of Civic Duty (Yale University Press), p. 99. 



THE PRESIDENT 113 

Although the Fathers were familiar with the Brit- 
ish Cabinet, the constitution makes no provision for 
such a body, with the possible exception of the clause 
giving the President power to "require the opinion 
in writing, of the principal officer in each of the execu- 
tive departments, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices." In 1789 Congress 
created the Departments of State, Treasury, and War, 
as well as the office of Attorney-General. Washington 
appointed Jefferson as his Secretary of State, Hamil- 
ton as his Secretary of the Treasury, Knox as his Sec- 
retary of War, and Randolph as his Attorney-General. 
In 1793 Washington began the practice of summoning 
these officers to meet frequently as a council. The 
term "Cabinet" came to be applied to this group of 
Presidential advisers. Other Presidents followed 
Washington's practice, and as new departments were 
created the heads of these departments were included 
in the Cabinet. Thus arose the President's Cabinet, 
which has no authorization under law, but has grown 
out of custom to be a recognized part of our national 
administration. In 1921 President Harding initiated 
the practice of including the Vice-President among the 
President's advisers. 

The Cabinet now meets regularly, generally on a 
particular day of each week, which is known in Wash- 
ington as Cabinet Day. The meeting occurs in the 
Executive Offices of the White House. The President 
sits at the head of the table, the Vice-President at the 
foot; on the right hand of the President is the seat of 
the Secretary of State, and on the left hand sits the 
Secretary of the Treasury, while the other members 
are seated in order of their rank on either side. The 
meetings of the Cabinet are secret; and if any account 



ii4 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of the discussions is given to the press, it must come 
from the President alone. The primary purpose of 
Cabinet meetings is to secure unity in the administra- 
tion and to give the President advice upon the prob- 
lems of the moment. The President is not obliged to 
accept any advice; the Cabinet members, moreover, 
are the subordinates of the President and may be re- 
moved by him from office, although generally a hint 
from the President is sufficient to secure the resigna- 
tion of any member. 

In late years it has been proposed that the Cabinet 
officers be given seats on the floor of both houses of 
Congress with the right to debate but not to vote. A 
committee of the Senate made such a proposal in 1881, 
but their project was not well received by their col- 
leagues. Chief Justice Taft has recently recommended 
this reform as a measure contributing to cooperation 
between the executive and legislative departments. 
Under such an arrangement Congress would have bet- 
ter facilities for making the President disclose his 
policies, while the President would have the oppor- 
tunity to defend or explain his policies by means of 
the speeches of his Cabinet officers. 

PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION 

The constitution provides that in case of the "re- 
moval of the President from office, or of his death, 
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
Vice-President," and that Congress shall provide for 
the presidential succession after the Vice-President. 
By law, therefore, Congress has provided that in any 
such emergency the heads of the departments shall 
succeed to office in order of their rank. The consti- 



THE PRESIDENT 115 

tution is not clear as to what constitutes inability to 
discharge the powers and duties of the office of Presi- 
dent, and no provision is made other than by impeach- 
ment for declaring the office to be vacated. 

In conclusion, we should observe that while the 
powers of the President are very extensive there is 
small danger of his becoming a tyrant or a despot. 
The enemies of a strong President in Congress nat- 
urally raise the cry of "executive usurpation" and 
"one man power"; but such accusations mean little if 
they are not followed by impeachment proceedings, 
and only once has the House of Representatives ever 
impeached a President. The President, with the ex- 
ception of the Vice-President, is the only federal of- 
ficer elected by all the people ; the Senators and Repre- 
sentatives represent only sections of the voters. Hence 
in recent years there has been a tendency to consider 
the President in a very real sense as the leader of the 
nation. If a President is wise in his counsel and is 
backed by public opinion, Congress cannot long resist 
him. 

For Further Reading 

Presidential Elections. — James Bryce, American 
Commonzvealth, II, ch. lxix-lxxiii ; P. Orman Ray, In- 
troduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics-, ch. 
viii; C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, 
ch. ix; J. B. Bishop, Presidential Nominations and Elec- 
tions, ch. xii, xiii; M. Ostrogorski, Democracy and the 
Party System in the United States, pp. 133-224; W. J. 
Bryan, The First Battle: A Story of the Campaign of 
1806, pp. 210-237, 580-620; A. K. McClure, Our Presi- 
dents and Hozv We Make Them, pp. 261-269, 309-315; 
Edward Stanwood, History of the Presidency, II, ch. iv. 

Presidential Primaries. — P. Orman Ray, Introduc- 



n6 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tion to Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 198- 
203; R. S. Boots, The Presidential Primary in National 
Municipal Review (1920), IX, pp. 597-617; A. B. Hall, 
Popular Government, ch. v. 

Parliamentary and Presidential Government. — 
Jesse Macy and J. W. Gannaway, Comparative Free 
Government, pp. 435-446, 466-477; James Bryce, Mod- 
ern Democracies, II, ch. lxviii; C. G. and B. M. Haines, 
Principles and Problems of Government, pp. 259-279; 
Woodrow Wilson, Congressional Government ; W. F. 
Willoughby, Government of Modern States, ch. ix;. W. 
W. Willoughby and L. Rogers, Introduction to the Prob- 
lem of Government, ch. xvii-xviii. 

Powers of the President. — James Bryce, American 
Commonwealth, I, ch. vi; C. A. Beard, American Govern- 
ment and Politics, pp. 187-214; Everett Kimball, Na- 
tional Government of the United States, pp. 168-206; 
W. B. Munro, Government of the United States, ch. viii. 

The Presidential Veto. — J. H. Finley and J. F. San- 
derson, The American Executive and Executive Meth- 
ods, pp. 206-226; W. H. Taft, Our Chief Magistrate and 
His Powers, pp. 14-28. 

Leadership of the President. — Theodore Roose- 
velt, Autobiography, ch. x ; W. H. Taft, Our Chief Mag- 
istrate and His Powers, ch. i; Woodrow Wilson, Con- 
stitutional Government in the United States, ch. iii. 

The President's Cabinet. — Everett Kimball, Na- 
tional Government of the United States, pp. 207-221 ; 
James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, ch. ix; C. A. 
Beard, American Government and Politics, ch. xi ; W. B. 
Munro, Government of the United States, ch. ix; Jesse 
Macy and J. W. Gannaway, Comparative Free Govern- 
ment, ch. viii ; M. L. Hinsdale, History of the President's 
Cabinet, pp. 1-16; H. B. Learned, The President's 
Cabinet, pp. 97-158. 



CHAPTER VI 
CONGRESS 

In drafting the constitution the Fathers created a 
bicameral or two-chambered legislature. Congress was 
to consist of the Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives. The former was to be the upper house; the 
latter was to be the lower house. In planning thus 
the Fathers were not unmindful of the British model. 
The British Parliament was divided into two houses; 
the colonial legislatures had been so divided ; and all the 
new State legislatures, save three, followed this ar- 
rangement. 

From the beginning of their deliberations in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Fathers felt 
that the people should be represented in the lower 
house. The scheme for representing all the States 
equally in the upper house while representing the 
people proportionally in the lower house was the result 
of the famous compromise between the small States 
and the large States. Under the constitution, each 
State was to send to the Senate two Senators elected 
for six-year terms by the legislatures of the States; 
and the people in each State were to elect every two 
years members to the House of Representatives. The 
number of representatives from a State was to be 
proportional to its population. 

The System of Checks and Balances was applied to 
the relations of the two houses in Congress. No bill 
could pass Congress without a majority vote in both 
branches; and, since upper houses are proverbially 

117 



ti8 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

more conservative than lower houses, it was thought 
that the Senate would act as a check upon the impul- 
sive popular house. There is a tradition that Thomas 
Jefferson one morning at Washington's breakfast table 
protested against the need of two houses in Congress, 
and Washington asked, "Why did you pour that cof- 
fee into your saucer?" "To cool it," replied Jeffer- 
son. "Even so," said Washington, "we pour legis- 
lation into the Senatorial saucer to cool it." More- 
over, it was expected that the Senate would repre- 
sent the interests of the States and would resist any 
encroachment of the people upon the rights of the 
States. The expectations of the Fathers were well 
founded. The Senate was long the protector of State's 
Rights ; and although the Seventeenth Amendment, in 
1913, brought us popular election of Senators, the 
Senate has remained the more conservative house of 
Congress. 

The functions of Congress. — By means of the 
Check and Balance System, the national legislature 
was made to fill a nicely prescribed position. Congress 
has two great functions, first, to make the laws which 
it is the duty of the executive to enforce, and second, 
to check all encroachments by the executive. The 
power of Congress to oppose and obstruct the Presi- 
dent is very comprehensive. (1) Any bill of Congress 
which the President vetoes may be enacted without 
the President's signature by a two-thirds vote of both 
houses. (2) The confirmation of the Senate is re- 
quired for all appointments, unless Congress by law 
confers this power upon the President or other officials. 
(3) All treaties negotiated by the President must be 
ratified by a two-thirds vote in the Senate; if not rati- 
fied, no treaty is valid. (4) The President may be im- 



CONGRESS 119 

peached by the lower house, the trial being held before 
the upper house, which by a two-thirds vote may con- 
vict him of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
misdemeanors and remove him from office. ( 5 ) As in 
the British government, no taxes may be levied without 
the vote of the legislature, the American constitution, 
like the British, providing that all revenue bills must 
originate in the lower house. (6) Finally, no money 
can be drawn from the national treasury but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law. Thus the 
supply of money necessary for the maintenance of 
the executive is in the hands of Congress. 

In an added effort to separate the executive and 
legislative departments the Fathers provided in the 
constitution : "No Senator or Representative shall, dur- 
ing the time for which he was elected, be appointed to 
any civil office under the authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased during such time; 
and no person holding any office under the United 
States, shall be a member of either house during his 
continuance in office." The Fathers feared that the 
President might connive with members of Congress 
and agree to reward their services to him by appoint- 
ment to lucrative offices. This prohibition in the con- 
stitution bars a Cabinet officer from membership in 
either house of Congress. 

Sessions of Congress. — "Congress shall assemble 
at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be 
on the first Monday in December, unless they shall 
by law appoint a different day," says the constitution. 
Accordingly, the regular sessions of Congress convene 
each year upon the first Monday in December. This 
date, however, is not the beginning of the Congress- 



120 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

men's term of office. In 1788 a resolution of the Con- 
gress of the Confederation fixed the following March 
4th, as the date on which the new government should 
go into effect. As a result, the commissions of all 
elected officers begin and end at noon on the fourth 
of March. Unfortunately, this date does not corre- 
spond with the time for the convening of the regular 
session of Congress, and as a result the sessions lack a 
uniformity of length. The long session convenes ordi- 
narily in December, although it may be summoned by 
the President at any time after his inauguration on the 
4th of March; and it continues until adjournment 
sine die. The short session extends from the next De- 
cember to the following fourth of March. Each in- 
coming President usually summons a special session of 
the Senate to confirm his Cabinet appointments; and 
he may, if he desires to hurry along his party's legis- 
lative program, call a special session of both houses of 
Congress. 

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

The number of members in the House of Repre- 
sentatives is fixed by Congress, subject to the limita- 
tion that it shall never exceed one for every thirty thou- 
sand inhabitants, but each State has at least one Repre- 
sentative. Representatives are apportioned among the 
States according to their population, which is deter- 
mined every ten years by the national census. After 
every census a new apportionment is made. The first 
House had sixty-five members. This membership has 
increased from time to time; after the census of 1910 
it was set at four hundred and thirty-five at which 
figure it still remains. The ratio of representation by 
the apportionment of 192 1 was 242,267 persons. 



CONGRESS i2i 

This method of apportionment is largely a matter of 
adjustment. Care must be taken not to increase un- 
duly the size of the House. On the other hand, grow- 
ing States want more Representatives in Congress and 
no State wants its membership reduced. The ratio is 
finally obtained by dividing the total population of the 
United States by the figure representing the new mem- 
bership of the House. In the apportionment of 1921, 
three States — Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming — 
were given a Representative solely because of the con- 
stitutional requirement. 

The congressional districts. — The constitution 
makes no provision as to congressional districts. It 
declares that the time, place, and manner of holding 
elections for Representatives shall be prescribed in 
each State by the legislature thereof, but Congress may 
alter these regulations. It was not until 1842 that 
Congress used this regulating power. The Appor- 
tionment Act of that year directed the legislature in 
every State having more than one Representative to 
create as many congressional districts composed of 
"contiguous territory," as the State was entitled to 
elect Representatives. 

At a later day Congress required that the congres- 
sional districts be composed of "contiguous and com- 
pact territory containing as nearly as practicable an 
equal number of inhabitants/' or else that all the mem- 
bers should be elected at large. This requirement was 
intended to end a practice in which State legislatures 
too frequently indulged, called "gerrymandering"— a 
picturesque nickname originating in the clever way in 
which a distinguished Republican, Elbridge Gerry, 
in 181 1, redistricted the State of Massachusetts with 
the curious result that the map of one of the districts 



122 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

looked like a salamander. In apportioning the con- 
gressional districts the majority party in the legisla- 
ture is sorely tempted to use its power to its own 
advantage. By skillful manipulation of boundary lines 
the congressional districts may be constructed in such 
manner that the voting strength of one's own party will 
be nicely distributed so as to insure a majority in the 
greater number of districts. Thus, the famous "sad- 
dlebag" district in Illinois (the 23rd) was constructed 
by attaching a large number of Democratic counties 
together for the purpose of leaving a fairly safe margin 
of Republican votes in the five adjoining districts. 
The "belt line" district around Cook County in the 
same State is another example of gerrymandering. On 
the other hand, the Democrats in Missouri have juggled 
the Republican border counties and formed the cele- 
brated "shoe-string" district (the 14th), which 
stretches almost across the State. 

Qualification for members in the House. — The 
constitution requires that a Representative must be 
twenty-five years of age, a citizen of the United States 
for at least seven years, and at the time of his election 
a resident of the State from which elected. Custom 
has furthermore prescribed that a Representative must 
also be a resident of his congressional district. There 
is, of course, a reason for this custom. In America, 
sectional interests and prejudices have always pressed 
very strongly for expression, and the American people 
have felt that only an inhabitant of their own particu- 
lar locality could accurately give voice and adequately 
demand recognition for the peculiar interests and de- 
sires of their sections. 

The theory underlying the custom of requiring our 
Representatives to be residents of the district which 



CONGRESS 123 

they serve is one which has afforded occasion for de- 
bate in all representative governments. Should the 
member of a national legislature consider himself as 
a representative of a particular district, bound to echo 
with mathematical accurateness the demands of his 
constituents, or should he attempt to represent the 
whole people ? Should he speak and vote in the inter- 
ests of the nation rather than in the interests of his own 
individual section? These are questions more easily 
raised than answered. It would seem that local inter- 
ests had a right to be heard in the legislative halls, 
and that local prejudices and opinions should be con- 
sidered in weighing questions of national importance; 
but it is too much to demand that a representative 
should be simply the mute recorder of his district's 
vote. He is a member of a body which makes laws 
for all the people. If he is a statesman, he will think 
of the good of the nation more than the good of a 
single district. In 1 774-1 780 Edmund Burke as a 
member of the British Commons frequently disobeyed 
the instructions of his constituents of Bristol and sup- 
ported many unpopular measures in Parliament. In 
explaining his conduct to the electors he said: "I 
conformed to the instructions of truth and nature, and 
maintained your interest, against your opinions, with 
a constancy that became me. A representative worthy 
of you ought to be a person of stability. I am to look, 
indeed, to your opinions; but to such opinions as you 
and I must have five years hence. I was not to look to 
the flash of the day. I knew that you chose me, in 
my place, along with the others, to be a pillar of the 
state, and not a weathercock on the top of the edifice, 
exalted for my levity and versatility, and of no use but 
to indicate the shiftings of every fashionable gale," 



124 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

We like to think that Congress, as the deliberative 
assembly of a great nation, is guided, not by local pur- 
poses and prejudices, but by the general good result- 
ing from the general reason of the whole. Neverthe- 
less, in practical politics the ideal presented by Edmund 
Burke is difficult to attain. The pressure of local 
interests upon congressmen is enormous. No one 
can fully appreciate the weight of local public opinion 
in America, who has not held an office which is ex- 
posed to popular sentiment. It takes a man of more 
than average courage, self-reliance, and conviction to 
speak and vote in Congress in opposition to his constit- 
uency. 

The House is the judge of the qualifications of 
its members. — "Each house shall be judge of the 
elections, returns, and qualifications of its own mem- 
bers." In these words the constitution provides that 
the House shall be the sole and final judge of the right 
of any member to hold his seat. The constitution also 
gives each house power to expel any member by a 
two-thirds vote. Not infrequently both houses exer- 
cise their powers of expulsion. In 1912 the Senate 
excluded a Senator from Illinois for corrupt practice in 
securing his election, and in 19 19 the House refused 
to permit Victor Berger of Wisconsin to take the 
oath of office. Mr. Berger had been convicted by a 
jury in a federal court of disloyal acts committed dur- 
ing our war with Germany and had been sentenced to 
twenty years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. Pend- 
ing his appeal to the Supreme Court he had been re- 
leased on bail, and was permitted to defend himself 
before the committee of the House which investigated 
his case. After his exclusion from the House a special 
election was held and Mr. Berger was again elected 



CONGRESS 125 

by his constituents, and for a second time he was ex- 
cluded by the House. 

No injustice was inflicted upon the voters of Mil- 
waukee by the exclusion of their Representative. It 
would be manifestly wrong for the House to exclude 
a Representative because of his membership in any 
political party ; but the House may judge of the char- 
acter and personal qualifications of the particular agent 
whom the people of any district have chosen to repre- 
sent them. It would be improper for a felon to sit in 
Congress and help make the laws which all must obey 
even if the people of a certain district were determined 
to be represented by a felon. Exclusion by the House 
does not mean that the district remains unrepresented 
in Congress. By special election called by the Governor 
of the State, the constituency has an opportunity to 
return another member. 

Congressional elections. — Under its power to su- 
pervise federal elections Congress has designated the 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every 
other year as the date for electing congressmen. Elec- 
tion day was placed in midweek as it was considered 
a more convenient time than the week-end for voters 
to go to the polls. The act of Congress which fixed the 
date for congressional elections allowed any State to 
maintain its former time of election if it so wished, 
although hereafter the election might not be changed 
to any other date save the one designated by Congress. 
Accordingly, by virtue of an earlier unrepealed law, 
Maine holds its congressional elections in September; 
and since Maine is frequently a "doubtful" State, 
weather-wise politicians watch the Maine elections with 
considerable interest. 

Before 1842 the State conventions of the various 



126 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

parties used to place in nomination the candidates for 
Representatives. After the creation of congressional 
districts, conventions of the parties within the dis- 
tricts nominated the candidates for the Representatives 
chosen by the district, while the State conventions 
nominated the candidates for congressmen-at-large, if 
there were any such. Since 1900 most States have 
adopted the primary system. Under this system the 
primaries are usually held in the summer, several 
months before the congressional elections. In the pri- 
maries the Republican voters choose their candidate, 
the Democrats choose their candidate, and voters of 
other parties do likewise. The names which appear on 
the ballots of the various parties are placed there as 
a result of petitions filed with the election officials at 
the State capitals. The successful candidates in the 
primaries become the candidates of their respective 
parties in the congressional election and their names 
appear on the ballots which the voters mark on the 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the 
even-numbered years. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

Like all deliberative bodies, the House of Repre- 
sentatives has a presiding officer. Unlike his British 
prototype, the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives is not an impartial moderator but is a partisan 
officer using the power of his position to promote the 
interests of his party. Indeed, from the election of 
Henry Clay as Speaker in 181 1 to the downfall of 
Joseph Cannon in 19 10, the Speaker was the leader of 
his party in the House and the formidable rival of the 
President as the leader of his party, not only in Con- 
gress but in the country at large. The Speaker is the 



CONGRESS 127 

choice of the majority party. Before a new Congress 
convenes it is customary for the members of each 
party to meet in secret caucus and select their candi- 
dates for Speaker. Then on the opening of Congress 
each party nominates this candidate for the speaker- 
ship, and a ballot is formally taken, although the result 
of the election is a foregone conclusion. The nominee 
of the minority party is tacitly the leader of his party 
in opposition. The majority party in its caucus chooses 
not only the Speaker, but, since the Speaker is the pre- 
siding officer, it also selects a floor-leader. In 191 1- 
19 19, when the Democrats controlled the House, 
Champ Clark of Missouri was the Speaker, and Mr. 
Underwood of Alabama and later Mr. Kitchin of 
North Carolina were floor-leaders. Under the Repub- 
lican regime beginning in 19 19, Mr. Gillett of Massa- 
chusetts became Speaker and Mr. Mondell of Wyo- 
ming the floor-leader. The caucus of the majority party 
also appoints a so-called "steering committee," a par- 
tisan committee of leaders for the purpose of deciding 
what measures shall have precedence and for guiding 
legislation in various other ways. 

The committees of the House. — The work of 
Congress is very largely accomplished in the commit- 
tees. In fact, one critic has remarked that the Amer- 
ican people are governed by committees. This is partly 
true, because not only are the committees busied with 
the drafting of bills, but they also take the leading part 
in the discussion, alteration, rejection, or approval of 
bills. The debates on the floor of the House are of far 
less importance in the matter of influencing legislation 
than are the discussions in the committee rooms. 

Not all of the committees of the House are of equal 
importance. There are sixty-one standing commit- 



128 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tees. The Committee on Ways and Means, which 
frames the revenue bills, heads the list in importance, 
while the Committee on the Disposition of Useless 
Executive Papers is perhaps of the least impor- 
tance. A committee like the Committee on Im- 
migration and Naturalization may, on occasion, 
assume a prominent place in the business of Con- 
gress when a new immigration law is being 
framed, only to fall back into insignificance during 
the following years when the question is no longer 
before Congress. The most important commit- 
tees are the following: (i) Ways and Means, (2) Ap- 
propriations, (3) Rules, (4) Interstate and Foreign 
Commerce, (5) Banking and Currency, (6) Judiciary, 
(7) Agriculture, (8) Post Office and Post Roads, (9) 
Military Affairs, and (10) Naval Affairs. 

Each committee is composed of members from both 
the majority and the minority party. The majority 
party retains the chairmanship and the greater num- 
ber of members. Thus in 19 19 the Committee on 
Ways and Means had twenty-five members, fifteen of 
them being Republicans and ten of them Democrats. 
On the rolls of a committee the chairman's name comes 
first, and after his name follow those of the other mem- 
bers of his party in strict order of seniority. In an- 
other column the names of the minority members are 
placed in rank of seniority. 

Before 191 1 the committees were appointed by the 
Speaker, but since this date they have been elected by 
the House. This election, however, is only nominal, for 
the party slates of committee appointments are framed 
by the handful of men who lead their party, are ap- 
proved perfunctorily in secret caucus and elected as a 
matter of course when Congress convenes. In fram- 



CONGRESS 129 

ing the slate of commitee appointments the leaders fol- 
low the rule of seniority. A new member of Congress 
has practically no chance of securing the chairmanship 
of any committee, and he will be fortunate if he can 
secure the lowest place on a committee of even second- 
rate importance. 

Work of the committees. — The committees have 
been called a "species of miniature legislature." They 
are bipartisan in their composition, being made up 
of members from the majority and minority parties. 
They conduct hearings, investigate questions pertain- 
ing to proposed laws, draft bills, discuss bills, and 
finally report their bills to the House. Every bill, and 
nearly every resolution introduced in the House, is 
referred to some committee for a report before the 
House takes action upon the measure. 

On the opening day of Congress bills are introduced 
in great numbers. Any member may introduce a bill 
which he has prepared or which some other person, 
association, or corporation has prepared and requested 
him to introduce. He writes his name on the bill and 
drops it into the box at the desk of the clerk of the 
House. In the second session of the Sixty-third Con- 
gress, 26,106 bills and nearly 2,000 resolutions were 
introduced. This ease in introducing bills accords with 
the democratic principle that the voice of the people 
should reach to the national legislature, but obviously 
the practice is subject to abuse. Many useless bills 
containing foolish Utopian projects, or ill-digested and 
unsound measures are proposed every year. 

The bills are referred by the clerk to the proper com- 
mittee, and if there is any doubt as to the proper com- 
mittee for considering a bill, the Speaker decides where 
it shall go. Hereafter the fate of the bill lies very 



i 3 o AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

largely in the hands of the committee. The commit- 
tees may act upon a bill in one of three ways, (i) 
It may ignore the measure or "pigeonhole' 5 it, in the 
words of the political jargon. The greater number of 
bills introduced in Congress thus expire in committee, 
for it is difficult to get the House to consider a bill 
which a committee does not report. (2) The com- 
mittee may report the bill favorably to the House, in 
which case the bill is debated and given three read- 
ings. (3) The committee may substitute its own meas- 
ure on the same subject and report it to the Housed 

When a bill is under consideration, it is the practice 
for the committee to hold hearings, at which any per- 
son, corporation, or society, or their attorneys, will 
be permitted to appear and present an argument or 
give evidence for or against the measure. In the 
course of its investigations a committee sometimes 
summons individuals or officers of government to ap- 
pear before it and give testimony. These hearings are 
usually public, and the newspapers often report the pro- 
ceedings more fully than the debates on the floor of the 
House. 

Bill procedure. — Upon introduction, a bill is num- 
bered, referred to a committee, and printed. When a 
bill is reported by a committee to the House it is placed 
on one of the three calendars from which it will be 
taken in its regular order for consideration by the 
House. Because of an ancient custom of parliamen- 
tary practice a bill is given three readings, but these 
readings are not in full. The first reading is by title 
only, and the same is usually also true in regard to the 
third reading. The second reading is in full for the 
offering of amendments. The debate occurs on the 
motion to pass to a third reading. 



CONGRESS 131 

After a bill has passed the House of Representatives 
it is sent up to the Senate for concurrence. If the 
Senate passes the bill, then it is engrossed on parch- 
ment and transmitted to the President. On the other 
hand, if the Senate passes the bill with amendments, it 
is sent back to the House. In case the House refuses 
to concur in the amendment a conference committee 
of three Senators and three Representatives is ap- 
pointed to arrange, if possible, a compromise between 
the two houses. 

The debates in the House are limited. The amount 
of legislation to be considered is prodigious and the 
membership of the House is large, with the result that 
the individual member cannot claim as much time as he 
may desire to address the House. As already stated, 
the real work of the House is done in committees and 
not on the floor of the House; and, after a party has 
decided in secret caucus to support a measure, all the 
eloquence in Christendom will not swerve it from its 
purpose. Accordingly, the House has been rather im- 
patient of long speeches, and since the time of the cele- 
brated victory of "Czar" Reed in 1890, filibustering, or 
the use of obstructive tactics by obstreperous members, 
has been effectively stopped. Any member who wishes 
to say more upon any measure than he can in the time 
allotted to him may obtain permission to extend his re- 
marks in the Congressional Record, and the complete 
speech including both that part actually given and the 
remainder also may be reprinted and mailed under the 
member's frank (free of charge) to his constituents. 

THE SENATE 

The Senate is the upper house of Congress. It con- 
sists of two members from every State, in all ninety- 



132 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

six members. We have seen that one of the compro- 
mises of the Fathers provided for the representation of 
the people in the House of Representatives, while the 
States should be represented in the Senate. The small 
States feared the encroachment of the large States. But 
during nearly a century and a half of national history 
there has never been, as Hamilton foresaw, any divi- 
sion of interests and political contests between the 
large and small States. 

The difference in the population of States is far 
greater to-day than it was in 1787. New York with 
its population of 10,385,227 has two Senators in our 
upper chamber; but Nevada, with its population of only 
77,407, also is entitled to send two Senators. It is 
very unlikely that the representation of States in the 
Senate will be modified at any time in the near future, 
for the last clause in Article v of the constitution stipu- 
lates that "no State, without its consent, shall be de- 
prived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." 

In spite of this disproportion of representation, the 
Senate is more broadly representative of the United 
States than is the lower house. As President Wilson 
has pointed out, it does not represent merely units of 
population, but, rather, regions or sections of our 
country. The House draws its membership in a large 
part from the denser centers of population, the closely 
crowded industrial and commercial cities in the North 
and East. But the Senate draws its membership 
equally from every section or State. As a result it 
represents the varieties and diversities of America in 
a greater measure than does the House. 

The election of Senators. — As originally pro- 
vided in the constitution the Senators were elected by 
the legislatures of their States, and sometimes legis- 



CONGRESS 133 

latures undertook to "instruct" their Senators how 
they should vote in Congress. In 19 13 the Seventeenth 
Amendment was adopted, placing the election of Sena- 
tors in the hands of the people. Theoretically the Sev- 
enteenth Amendment was an abrupt break with the 
past. Practically it has had little effect upon the char- 
acter of the Senate. As we have already noted, the 
term of office is still six years; and the comparative 
smallness of the membership and prestige of the Sen- 
ate attract the ablest political talent of the country. 
Ever since the Jacksonian era the Senate has been 
composed of more brilliant, learned, and versatile men 
than has the House. 

The Senator, unlike the Representative whose term 
of office has ordinarily half expired when he takes his 
seat, is not immediately concerned with his reelection. 
As Lord Bryce has said, a Senator has the opportunity 
of thoroughly learning his work and of proving that he 
has learned it. Once elected to office a Senator has 
good chances of a second, third, or fourth election; 
because the office carries with it great political influence 
in the State as a result of its control of federal patron- 
age. But if a Senator loses an election, it is difficult 
to regain his seat. The new incumbent appropriates 
the political prestige and patronage of the office and 
he has six years to build up a following within the 
State. 

The entire membership of the Senate does not seek 
reelection every six years. The Senators are divided 
into three groups, so that one third of the members are 
elected every second year at the same time that the 
Representatives are elected. 

Organization of the Senate. — The Senate meets 
in its chamber in the south wing of the Capitol. The 



i 3 4 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Vice-President of the United States is the presiding 
officer, but he has no right to debate, nor to vote save 
in case of a tie vote. There are two kinds of sessions. 
In legislative session the Senate performs its law-mak- 
ing functions coordinately with the House. In execu- 
tive sessions the Senate exercises certain executive 
powers which we shall describe later in this chapter. 
The legislative sessions are open to the public, who, as 
in the Hall of the Representatives, may listen to the 
debates from the galleries. The executive sessions, 
however, are usually held behind closed doors. 

As in the House, the chief work of the Senate is 
accomplished in committees. Altogether there are 
thirty-four standing committees. They are elected in 
the Senate by ballot every two years. Six of these com- 
mittees are of first importance, being the committees 
on: (i) Finance, (2) Appropriations, (3) Foreign 
Relations, (4) Judiciary, (5) Interstate Commerce, 
and (6) Rules. The other committees vary from year 
to year in importance, according to the legislation be- 
fore Congress. 

Freedom of debate in the Senate. — The proce- 
dure of the Senate is in many respects like that of the 
House. But while debate is strictly limited among 
the Representatives, the Senators enjoy almost unlim- 
ited freedom of discussion, and any member may intro- 
duce a bill and have it put on the calendar for debate 
without reference to a committee. Compared with 
the House, the membership of the Senate has always 
been small, particularly in the beginning of our national 
history when there were only twenty-two Senators. 
Because of the smallness of the Senate there has not 
existed that necessity for rigid self-restraint which 
must be practiced in a large assembly of four hundred 



CONGRESS 135 

and thirty-five members. Hence the Senate has al- 
ways liked to consider itself as a house where debate 
is unlimited, where time and opportunity are permitted 
for presenting every phase of a subject, where action 
is taken only after due deliberation. In allowing this 
freedom of debate the Senate has traditionally de- 
pended upon the good faith of Senators and upon their 
consideration for the dignity and quality of the upper 
house, where once was heard the oratory of Webster, 
Clay, and Calhoun. No hour-rule limiting speeches 
exists, and it was not until 19 17 that a cloture rule 
was adopted. Until this time any Senator could talk 
as long as he desired upon any measure before the 
house. 

Unfortunately, the rather idealistic freedom of the 
Senate's rules has been rather shabbily abused in late 
years. As filibustering was eradicated from the House 
it appeared in the Senate. In 1903, near the close of 
a session, a certain Senator announced that he would 
keep the floor until Congress expired and thus prevent 
the passage of some important appropriation bills un- 
less an item was included for the payment of a claim by 
his State of some seventy years standing. Both the 
House and the Senate disapproved of the item but 
the appropriation bills were urgent and eventually 
Congress surrendered to the stubborn Senator. Many 
other cases of flagrant obstruction might be cited. 
There is nothing particularly clever or brilliant in thus 
holding up the process of legislation by abusing the 
rights which Anglo-Saxon majorities like to grant to 
minorities. Indeed, the resort to such tactics suggests 
a type of mentality quite opposite to that indicated by 
the powerful oratory of Webster or the brilliant logic 
of Calhoun. Notwithstanding this unabated nuisance 



136 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the Senate was extremely reluctant to adopt any rule 
which would interfere with the traditional freedom of 
debate. A crisis was reached, however, on the eve of 
our war with Germany, when Senator LaFollette and 
a "little group of willful men" used a filibuster to pre- 
vent the enactment of a measure recommended by 
President Wilson. In the next session of the Senate, 
under pressure from the President, the upper house 
adopted a complicated rule known as the cloture; but 
so deep-rooted is the tradition of freedom of debate in 
the Senate that the cloture has been seldom used. 

Party control in the Senate. — As in the House, 
the controlling party in the Senate uses the secret party 
caucus for the purpose of securing harmony of action. 
In caucus each party chooses a floor-leader, and the 
caucus of the majority party usually appoints a "steer- 
ing-committee' ' to guide legislation. At the opening 
of Harding's administration Henry Cabot Lodge of 
Massachusetts was the leader of the Republican ma- 
jority, while Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama was 
the leader of the Democratic minority. 

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE SENATE 

According to the plans of the framers of the con- 
stitution the Senate occupied a peculiar position in the 
System of Checks and Balances. It is the upper branch 
of Congress, and shares the lawmaking power with 
the House of Representatives. But it has also execu- 
tive and judicial functions. In fact Hamilton wrote 
of the executive power as divided between the Presi- 
dent and the Senate. 

The functions of the Senate may be grouped under 
the following heads : 



CONGRESS 137 

1. Legislative power as a coordinate house of Con- 
gress. 

2. Special executive powers, including confirmation 
of appointments and approval of treaties. 

3. Special judicial power, namely, to try impeach- 
ments. 

The possession of these varied powers by one organ 
of government might seem to be inconsistent with the 
theory of separation and distribution of powers among 
the three departments of goverment. But the Fathers 
thought of the Senate as performing a very necessary 
office in the System of Checks and Balances. It was 
to be a special check upon the executive. In the mak- 
ing of treaties with foreign nations and in the difficult 
business of making appointments to office it was asso- 
ciated with the President, not in an initiating capacity, 
but in an advisory or negative capacity. In regard to 
trying the President for malfeasance in office, the 
House was given power to prosecute the impeachment, 
the Senators were to act as judges. When the Senate 
exercises its legislative powers it sits in legislative ses- 
sion; when it exercises its executive powers it sits in 
executive session, usually behind closed doors; and 
when hearing impeachments it sits as a court of im- 
peachment, although in 1868 the term "high court of 
impeachment" was discontinued. 

The legislative functions of the Senate. — The 
Senate as a coordinate branch of Congress shares the 
legislative power with the House of Representatives. 
Every bill and joint resolution must pass both houses 
before being presented to the President for his signa- 
ture, and must pass both houses by a two-thirds vote 
in order to become law over the President's veto. Bills 
may originate in either house with one exception. 



1 38 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Under the constitution, all bills levying a tax must 
come from the House of Representatives. As a matter 
of fact the Senate originates as much financial legisla- 
tion as does the House, especially in the framing of 
tariff bills. This is possible under the power of the 
Senate to propose amendments to a House bill, but the 
exercise of this power is a violation of the spirit of the 
constitution, although it may be easily condoned since 
the Senate like the House is elected by the people. 

Confirmation of appointments. — The Senate shares 
the appointing power with the President. The 
President nominates and the Senate confirms. This 
applies to about ten thousand principal office-holders 
who are not under the civil service, besides the military 
officers. As we have already seen, the President 
practically is compelled by the custom of "senatorial 
courtesy" to confer with the Senators from the State 
in which the office lies providing these Senators or one 
of them belong to his political party. 

Ratification of treaties. — The constitution pro- 
vides that "the President shall have power by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 
provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur." 
It is not clear from these words whether or not the 
Fathers intended that the President should ask the ad- 
vice of the Senate before opening negotiations for 
treaties with foreign nations. Washington held the 
opinion that the President should consult the Senate, 
and he actually came into the executive session of the 
Senate to receive such advice. The Senate, however, 
objected to his presence so obstinately that Washington 
gave up the practice. Thereafter the President nego- 
tiated treaties upon his own initiative and usually sub- 
mitted nothing to the Senate until the formal treaty 



CONGRESS 139 

was signed. This document was then transmitted to 
the Senate for ratification or rejection. 

While the President by long custom possesses full 
authority for initiating treaties, the Senate has the 
power of obstructing his work, for no treaty is valid 
without the Senate's ratification, and the Senate has 
never been timid in the matter of destroying presi- 
dential policies. The Senate, in 1870, defeated Grant's 
plan for the annexation of San Domingo; in 1904 it 
rejected the great accomplishment of Secretary Hay 
for arbitration, and in 191 1 it rejected the arbitration 
treaties of President Taft. Because of the hostility 
with which the Senate habitually views the executive, 
a prudent President, as Mr. Wilson well said in his 
celebrated essay written in the year 1908, will keep in 
touch with the leaders of the Senate and the Senate 
Committee on Foreign Affairs and will privately in- 
form them in regard to the progress of negotiations. 
Indeed, he will ask their advice from time to time upon 
important phases of the negotiations. 1 Failure to fol- 
low his own recommendations upon the conduct of a 
President caused Mr. Wilson to meet a disastrous de- 
feat in 1919 when he submitted the Treaty of Ver- 
sailles to the Senate. 

Sometimes the Senate will approve a treaty with res- 
ervations ; but, since a treaty is a contract between two 
nations, such reservations are effective only upon 
agreement with the other nation or nations that are 
parties to the treaty. 

The power to try impeachments. — The Senate 
has a judicial function. Under the constitution it is 
given "the sole power to try all impeachments." The 
House of Representatives prefers the charges of im- 

1 Constitutional Government in the United States, pp. 130-140. 



i 4 o AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

peachment and prosecutes the case. The Senate sits 
as a court, passes upon the evidence, hears the argu- 
ments for and against the accused, and by vote deter- 
mines his guilt or innocence. A vote of two thirds is 
required for conviction and removal from office. The 
Vice-President presides, except in case the President is 
impeached; in such a case the Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court presides. All civil officers may be 
removed from office upon impeachment and conviction 
of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
meanors." There have been only nine federal im- 
peachments and only three have resulted in convic- 
tions. Andrew Johnson, the only President of the 
United States to be impeached, was acquitted in 1868. 
Because of its extraordinary executive and judicial 
powers the Senate is the more important of the two 
houses of Congress. Individually the members of the 
Senate are more conspicuous than the members of the 
House, and, as a rule they are more experienced in 
public life, for the term of six years in office insures a 
greater continuity of service. In recent years the Sen- 
ate has been frequently attacked as the refuge of special 
interests and the home of vain obstructionists, while 
on the other hand it has been praised as guardian of 
the constitution against executive usurpation. What- 
ever the truth may be, the Senate has played a prom- 
inent role in our national history ; it has humbled many 
Presidents and more than held its own against the 
lower house. 

For Further Reading 

Organization and Procedure of the House of 
Representatives. — Everett Kimball, National Govern- 
ment of the United States, ch. xi-xiii; C. A. Beard, 



CONGRESS 141 

American Government and Politics, ch. xii, xiv; James 
Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, ch. xiii, xiv; W. B. 
Munro, Government of the United States, ch. xii, xiii; 
C. G. Haines and B. M. Haines, Principles and Problems 
of Government, pp. 280-312; W. W. Willoughby and 
L. Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of Government, 
ch. xiv. 

The Committee System. — S. M. McCall, The Busi- 
ness of Congress, pp. 43-60; Everett Kimball, National 
Government, pp. 344-356. A list of the committees of 
the House may be found in the Congressional Directory, 
which is published at the beginning of every session. 

The Caucus and Party Leadership. — Everett Kim- 
ball, National Government, pp. 310-314; 316-331; A. S. 
Alexander, Procedure of the House of Representatives, 
pp. 66-136; The Searchlight (a periodical published in 
Washington, D. C), May, 1919, pp. 2-7; June, 1919, 
pp. 2-4; Lynn Haines, Your Congress, ch. iv. 

Organization and Procedure of the Senate. — 
James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, ch. x-xiii; 
Everett Kimball, National Government, ch. xi-xiii ; C. A. 
Beard, American Government and Politics, ch. xii, xiv; 
W. B. Munro, Government of the United States, ch. x, 
xi; P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American Federal Gov- 
ernment, pp. 79-126. 

Character of the Senate. — James Bryce, American 
Commonwealth, I, ch. xii; Woodrow Wilson, Constitu- 
tional Government in the United States, ch. iv; H. C. 
Lodge, The Senate of the United States, ch. i; P. S. 
Reinsch, Readings on American Federal Government, 
pp. 155-172. 



CHAPTER VII 

ADMINISTRATION OF NATIONAL 
WELFARE 

A number of years ago when an unusually large 
appropriation bill was before Congress, some one 
taunted the majority party with the remark that it 
was a "billion-dollar Congress/' to which the Speaker 
of the House replied that this was a billion-dollar 
country. The rapid growth of America in wealth and 
population has made it necessary year by year to en- 
large the sphere of our national government. The 
greater part of this governmental development has 
been authorized by acts of Congress ; and the executive 
departments and commissions are charged with the 
duty of carrying out this legislation. The duties laid 
upon these departments and boards are so varied and 
their organization is so vast that several volumes would 
be required to give a detailed view of the business of 
the American government at Washington and of its 
agencies throughout the country. 

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 

All of the members of the President's cabinet save 
the Vice-President are heads of the various executive 
departments. These departments are legally separate 
and independent. But practically they are correlated, 
inasmuch as the department chiefs are appointed by 
the President and can be held responsible to the Presi- 

142 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 143 



, 



dent. The general policies of the administration are 
discussed in the cabinet meetings, but the details of 
administration are left to the departments concerned. 
• Department of State. — The Secretary of State is 
the chief of the Department of State, and under the 
direction of the President he has charge of the for- 
eign relations of the United States. It is through this 
department that the President acts when dealing with 
other nations, writing diplomatic notes or making 
treaties. The Secretary of State also has the duty of 
publishing the amendments to the constitution. As a 
rule, the Secretary of State is the most prominent man 
in the President's cabinet, and often he is the closest 
official adviser of the President. 

The diplomatic service and the consular service are 
under the supervision of the Department of State. 
Our diplomatic representatives abroad are of four 
grades: (i) ambassadors; (2) envoys extraordinary 
and ministers plenipotentiary; (3) ministers resident, 
and (4) charges d'affaires. An ambassador or min- 
ister is accredited to the sovereign or executive head 
of a foreign state and he resides at the capital of that 
country. Unlike the European practice our diplomatic 
service is neither permanent nor well paid. With a 
few exceptions, the United States does not even furnish 
our diplomatic representatives with a residence or of- 
fice. As a result the more important embassies can be 
assigned only to men with private means. Further- 
more, the practice of changing our representatives 
abroad at every change in administration is demoraliz- 
ing to the service. Notwithstanding these handicaps, 
however, America has been represented at times by 
men of great distinction, like Bancroft, Irving, Mot- 
ley, Lowell, and John Hay. 



i 4 4 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

The function of the diplomatic service is to keep 
the President informed as to the attitude of foreign 
governments, to serve as a means of communication 
between the President and foreign governments, to 
negotiate treaties under the direction of the State De- 
partment and to protect American citizens abroad. 
The consular service is maintained for the purpose of 
taking care that the provisions of commercial treaties 
are observed, for the purpose of serving the interests 
of citizens abroad in such matters as authentication 
of acts under seal, vise of passports and other services, 
and for the purpose. of collecting information concern- 
ing trade and commerce. American consulates are 
established in many of the larger cities of the world. 

Department of the Treasury. — The Secretary of 
the Treasury is the principal financial officer of the 
national government. His duties are very extensive, 
and may be summarized as follows : ( i ) the collection 
of revenue including customs duties, income taxes and 
other internal duties; (2) the management of the na- 
tional debt; (3) keeping the public money; (4) audit- 
ing and paying the public accounts; (5) coining 
money; (6) regulation of currency; (7) serving as 
chairman of the Federal Farm Loan Board; and (8) 
the administration of all matters pertaining to foreign 
loans and finance, and loans and payments to the rail- 
ways under the Transportation Act of 1920. The Bu- 
reau of Internal Revenue, which has charge of the 
collection of internal revenue taxes, is also charged 
with the enforcement of the national prohibition act. 
At Washington the Department of the Treasury occu- 
pies the huge granite building on Pennsylvania Avenue 
east of the White House. Customs-houses are located 
in many of the large cities of the United States. Gov- 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 145 

ernment mints and assay-offices for the purchase of 
bullion and for coining money are located in Phila- 
delphia, San Francisco, and Denver. 

The Department of War. — While the President 
is the commander-in-chief of the army and navy, the 
Department of War is under the immediate direction 
of the Secretary of War. Since 1814 the post of Sec- 
retary has usually been held by a civilian, and, indeed, 
we carried on the Mexican War, the Civil War, the 
Spanish-American War, and the World War with 
secretaries having no military experience. This has 
been partly due to the desire of the American people 
to subordinate the military power to the civil authority. 
The Chief of Staff is a military officer. He is the im- 
mediate adviser of the Secretary of War upon all mat- 
ters relating to the army and national defense. All 
orders to the armies in the field are issued through 
him. Besides military affairs the work of the War 
Department includes: (1) construction of public 
works like river and harbor improvements and (2) 
the government of our insular possessions, the Philip- 
pines and Porto Rico. 

Department of Justice. — The Attorney-General is 
the head of the Department of Justice. The chief 
function of this department is to give legal advice to 
the President and to the other departments, and to 
prosecute in the federal courts all violations against the 
laws of the United States. As an illustration of the 
work of this department we may cite the enforcement 
of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906. The Bu- 
reau of Chemistry in the Department of Agriculture 
makes analyses of samples of foods and drugs, and col- 
lects evidence concerning any violation of the law. 
This evidence is turned over to the Department of 



146 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Justice for criminal prosecution of the offenders in the 
federal courts. 

Post Office Department. — Of all the governmen- 
tal departments the Post Office is most closely asso- 
ciated with the people. Its branches reach into every 
city and village. Altogether there are 53,243 post 
offices, and 43,445 rural routes covering 1,151,832 
miles. Nearly nine billion letters are mailed by the 
American people every year, and over six billion par- 
cels of other mail matter. The department operates 
a money-order system for transmitting payments, 
maintains a postal savings bank, and operates an ex- 
press service called the parcel post. The employees of 
the department number 286,840 and its yearly receipts 
amount to nearly four hundred million dollars. The 
Postmaster-General of the United States has charge 
of the largest single business organization in the world. 

Department of the Navy. — The Secretary of the 
Navy is under the direction of the President as com- 
mander-in-chief of the navy. The department has 
supervision of the construction, manning and dispatch 
of our vessels-of-war. While the Secretary is gen- 
erally a civilian, the Chief of Naval Operations is an 
officer of naval training. Besides having control of 
the operations of our war fleets, the department also 
governs certain strategic outposts, including Guam, 
Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. In 1921 a proposal 
was made to President Harding by the Joint Congres- 
sional Committee on Reorganization for the amalga- 
mation of the Navy Department with the War De- 
partment, creating a new Department of National De- 
fense. 

Department of the Interior. — The Department of 
the Interior is a huge organization covering a great 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 147 

variety of services. It has charge of the survey and 
disposition of the public lands of the United States ; it 
is the guardian of the Indians, who are considered as 
the wards of the United States ; it supervises the pen- 
sions paid to the veterans of our wars ; it administrates 
the Patent Office and the national Bureau of Education. 
It directs the Geological Survey of our country and 
the Bureau of Mines. It has charge of the Reclama- 
tion Service for the construction and operation of ir- 
rigation works in arid regions. The department also 
has the care of our national parks, consisting of forty 
preserves like Yellowstone Park and Hot Springs Res- 
ervation; and finally it has supervision of two terri- 
tories, Alaska and Hawaii. 

Department of Agriculture. — This department, 
like the department which we have just described, is 
intimately connected with the economic welfare of the 
people. It is charged with the work of promoting agri- 
culture and of enforcing certain acts of Congress re- 
lating to the production of farm products. The Bureau 
of Animal Industry has supervision of the inspection 
of meats; the Bureau of Chemistry is concerned with 
the enforcement of the Pure Food and Drugs Act. 
The Bureau of Plant Industry is engaged in finding 
ways in which the farmer may improve his crops and 
in discovering and introducing new crops like the 
Egyptian cotton in Arizona. The boll-weevil, which 
devastates the cotton fields of Texas, the Hessian fly, 
which attacks the Kansas wheat, the beetle, which 
ruins the beautiful elms of New England, are warred 
upon by the Bureau of Entomology. The Bureau of 
Soils makes a study of soils in the interest of farm im- 
provement. The Weather Bureau forecasts the atmos- 
pheric changes for the information of agriculturists 



148 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and navigators. The Office of Farm Management 
studies the farmer's economic problems. The States 
Relations Service cooperates with the State agricul- 
tural colleges and experiment stations in teaching agri- 
culture and home-economics in rural communities. The 
Bureau of Public Roads administers the Federal Aid 
Road Act, and the Bureau of Markets gathers and pub- 
lishes information regarding the marketing of farm 
products. Finally, the Forest Service administers the 
one hundred and fifty-one national forest reservations 
in the United States. 

Department of Commerce. — The Secretary of 
Commerce is authorized to promote the commerce of 
the United States and its mining, manufacturing, 
shipping, fisheries, and transportation. The Bureau 
of the Census in this department takes the census 
every ten years, and publishes annually a small volume 
called Statistical Abstract of the United States, being 
an up-to-date summary of information. The Bureau 
of Standards has custody of the standards of weights 
and measures. There are other bureaus dealing with 
fisheries, navigation, lighthouses, steamboat inspection, 
and coast and geodetic survey. The Bureau of Foreign 
and Domestic Commerce has charge of the promotion 
of American commerce in foreign lands. In 192 1, 
when Herbert Hoover accepted the invitation of 
President Harding to become Secretary of Commerce, 
it was with the understanding that the powers of the 
department in regard to the promotion of foreign 
commerce would be greatly expanded. 

Department of Labor. — In 19 13 the Department of 
Labor was created as a separate department. The 
Secretary is authorized to promote the welfare of the 
wage-earners of the United States. He also is charged 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 149 

with the enforcement of the immigration laws; and 
for this purpose the Secretary has under his direction 
a large corps of inspectors at Ellis Island in New York 
harbor and at other ports on the coast. The Division 
of Conciliation has power to act as an arbitrator in all 
disputes between capital and labor that are submitted 
by both parties for decision. The Children's Bureau 
reports upon child- welfare in the United States, the 
Bureau of Naturalization supervises the naturalization 
of aliens; and the United States Employment Service 
seeks employment for the unemployed. 

This is a brief description of the great departments 
of the federal government, employing over half a 
million persons and requiring more than two billion 
dollars each year for maintenance. The various de- 
partments have not been created at the same time but 
like all governmental agencies they are a growth. The 
Departments of State, the Treasury and War and the 
office of Attorney-General were created in 1789, while 
at this time the Post Office was a branch of the Treas- 
ury. The Navy Department was created in 1798, the 
Interior in 1849, Agriculture in 1889, Commerce in 
1903 and Labor in 19 13. 

THE FEDERAL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS 

Besides the ten departments whose chiefs sit in the 
President's cabinet there are a large number of inde- 
pendent bureaus, boards and commissions created by 
act of Congress to perform certain functions. The 
heads of all these bureaus and the members of the 
boards and commissions are appointed by the Presi- 
dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

Director of the Budget. — One of the most impor- 
tant of these miscellaneous institutions is the Director 



150 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of the Budget. This office was created by Congress in 
1 92 1. The director has authority to prepare a budget 
for transmission to Congress, showing all estimates of 
funds needed by the various departments for the com- 
ing year. The director is responsible directly to the 
President and not to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Interstate Commerce Commission. — One of the 
most important commissions is the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission, which was created in 1887. It is 
composed of eleven members appointed by the Presi- 
dent, with the confirmation of the Senate, for a term 
of seven years. The work of the commission is almost 
judicial in nature, for it adjudicates disputes between 
shippers and interstate railways relating to rates and 
transportation facilities. The commission has power 
to fix reasonable rates for the common carriers to 
charge. From its decisions appeal may be taken to the 
Supreme Court. 

United States Railroad Labor Board. — This 
board was established by act of Congress in 1920. It 
is composed of nine members appointed by the Presi- 
dent with the confirmation of the Senate. The board 
hears and renders a decision in disputes concerning 
wages and conditions of labor between the employers 
and employees of interstate railways. Unlike the 
other federal boards and commissions, the Railroad 
Labor Board sits at Chicago and not at Washington. 

The Federal Reserve Board. — The Federal Re- 
serve Board was created in 191 3. It is composed of 
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller of the 
Currency, and five other members, one of whom is 
Governor of the Board. This board has supervision 
of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks throughout the 
country. 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 151 

The United States Shipping Board. — This board 
was set up under an act of Congress in the year 19 16 
to assist in establishing a merchant marine. It is au- 
thorized to construct, purchase, or lease vessels suitable 
as naval auxiliaries in time of war. During the World 
War a vast fleet of ships was acquired by the Shipping 
Board; and after the war the management of this 
property was left to the board. 

Besides the boards and commissions above men- 
tioned there are many more. Only a few of them may 
be named here. The Federal Trade Commission has 
the duty of enforcing the provisions of the Clayton Act 
of 19 14 prohibiting unfair methods of competition in 
interstate trade. The Tariff Commission studies the 
problem of customs duties and reports to the President 
and to Congress. The Civil Service Commission has 
charge of the examination of candidates for posts in 
the federal employ. The Veterans' Bureau has charge 
of the war risk insurance instituted by the government 
during the World War and of the vocational training 
of incapacitated soldiers. Finally the federal govern- 
ment maintains several great institutions of science and 
learning. The Library of Congress is one of the larg- 
est depositories of books in the world. The Smith- 
sonian Institution, which is devoted to the promotion 
of scientific studies, was created by act of Congress 
in 1846 under the terms of the will of James Smithson, 
an Englishman, who bequeathed his fortune to the 
United States to found an establishment for the "in- 
crease and diffusion of knowledge among men." 

CIVIL SERVICE 

Excluding the army and navy there are 771,117 



152 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

officers and employees in the service of the federal 
government. Of this number about ten thousand are 
presidential appointees ; and a considerable number are 
appointed by the heads of departments and the courts. 
Nearly all of the remainder are under the Civil Service. 
The history of the Civil Service is an important 
chapter in the record of our national progress. Wash- 
ington as President followed a very honorable course 
in reference to political appointments. Jefferson was 
the first President to come into office with a change 
of parties, and although he was strictly a party man, 
being the leader of the Jeffersonian Republicans, he re- 
sisted with a considerable degree of consistency the 
pressure from his party to oust Federalist officehold- 
ers and appoint "deserving" Republicans to their place. 
In regard to the federal patronage Jefferson said : "The 
only questions concerning a candidate shall be, is he 
honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the consti- 
tution?" In 1829, however, Jackson began a practice 
of frank brutality. "To the victors belong the spoils," 
said Senator Marcy, one of the Jackson men; and on 
this principle nearly half of the officials of the former 
administration were removed for political reasons. 
This vicious "spoils system" was continued for half a 
century and more. The unseemly scramble among 
politicians for office and the injustice rendered to 
faithful employees who were discharged for no fault 
of their own became a disgrace to the administration. 
Life is hard and cruel even at best, and this is true of 
the public service as well as of private employment, 
but at least we may hope that our government will not 
use a system of ruthless favoritism and brutality. A 
picture of the old system is given by Theodore Roose- 
velt, one of the early Civil Service Commissioners ; 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 153 

I once came across a case in Washington 
which very keenly excited my sympathy. Under 
an Administration prior to the one with which I 
was connected a lady had been ousted from a 
government position. She came to me to see if 
she could be reinstated. (This was not possible, 
but by active work I did get her put back in a 
somewhat lower position, and this only by an 
appeal to the sympathy of a certain official.) 
She was so pallid and so careworn that she ex- 
cited my sympathy and I made inquiries about 
her. She was a poor woman with two children, 
a widow. She and her two children were in ac- 
tual want. She could barely keep the two chil- 
dren decently clad, and she could not give them 
the food growing children need. Three years 
before she had been employed in a bureau in a 
department of Washington, doing her work 
faithfully, at a salary of about $800. It was 
enough to keep her and her two children in 
clothing, food, and shelter. One day the 
chief of the bureau called her up and told 
her he was very sorry that he had to dismiss 
her. In great distress she asked him why; 
she thought that she had been doing her work 
satisfactorily. He answered her that she had 
been doing well, and that he wished very 
much that he could keep her, that he would do 
so if he possibly could, but that he could not ; for 
a certain Senator, giving his name, a very influ- 
ential member of the Senate, had demanded her 
place for a friend of his who had influence. The 
woman told the bureau chief that it meant turn- 
ing her out to starve. She had been thirteen or 
fourteen years in the public service; she had 
lost all touch with her friends in her native 
State; dismissal meant absolute want for her 



154 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and her children. On this the chief, who was 
a kind man, said he would not have her turned 
out, and sent her back to her work. But three 
weeks afterward he called her up again and told 
her that he could not say how sorry he was, but 
the thing had to be done. The Senator had been 
around in person to know why the change had 
not been made, and had told the chief that he 
would be himself removed if the place were not 
given him. The Senator was an extremely influ- 
ential man. His wants had to be attended to, 
and the woman had to go. And go she did, and 
turned out she was, to suffer with her children 
and to starve outright, or to live in semistarva- 
tion, just as might befall. I do not blame the 
bureau chief, who hated to do what he did, al- 
though he lacked the courage to refuse ; I do not 
even very much blame the Senator, who did not 
know the hardship that he was causing, and 
who had been calloused by long training in the 
spoils system; but this system, a system which 
permits and encourages such deeds, is a sys- 
tem of brutal iniquity. 1 

Some time after the Civil War a reform movement 
began. The new spirit was typified by Cleveland's 
famous saying that "a public office is a public trust." 
Finally Congress passed the Civil Service Act of 1883. 
This act created a Civil Service Commission consist- 
ing of three members appointed by the President, not 
more than two of whom should be of the same party. 
The commission is to aid the President as he may 
request in preparing rules for the service and in hold- 
ing competitive examinations for the purpose of test- 
ing the fitness of applicants for office. Clerks and 

Autobiography (Scribner), p. 155. 



NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 155 

certain officers in the departments are classified accord- 
ing to salary and functions, and appointment to this 
classified service may be made only after competitive 
examination. In other words, no Senator or Repre- 
sentative is permitted to make recommendations for ap- 
pointment to the classified service. The Act of 1883 
was originally applied to only 14,000 offices, but soon 
it was widely extended. In Roosevelt's administration 
nearly 100,000 offices were put under the Civil Service, 
and now about sixty per cent of federal employees are 
so designated. 

After the examinations the Civil Service Commis- 
sion places the names of eligible candidates on its regis- 
ter; and, upon application from any department, sub- 
mits the names of three candidates for any vacant 
position, one of which may be selected by the appoint- 
ing officer. In this way hundreds of thousands of 
positions are filled with clerks, stenographers, drafts- 
men, interpreters, expert chemists, patent examiners, 
and postal clerks. After appointment, removals are 
not to be made "except for such causes as will promote 
the efficiency of the service.' ' The regulations of the 
Civil Service Commission are carefully drawn in the 
endeavor to give absolute justice to all who wish to 
enter or remain in federal employment. 

For Further Reading 

National Administration. — C. A. Beard, American 
Government and Politics, ch. xi ; W. B. Munro, Govern- 
ment of the United States, ch. ix; Everett Kimball, Na- 
tional Government of the United States, pp. 241-270. 

The Executive Departments. — All of the executive 
departments except the Department of State publish an- 
nual reports which may be obtained on request. For each 



156 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

session of Congress a Congressional Directory is pub- 
lished. Among other data this book gives an account 
of the duties and powers of the principal officers and 
bureaus in each department at Washington. The names 
and addresses of the present incumbents of office are also 
given. This useful volume may be obtained from the 
Superintendent of Public Documents, Washington, D. C, 
by sending coin or a money order (stamps not accepted) 
for sixty cents. 

The Civil Service. — Everett Kimball, National Gov- 
ernment of the United States, pp. 221-232; C. R. Fish, 
Civil Service and the Patronage, ch. i, ii, v, x; J. F. 
Rhodes, History of the United States, VIII, ch. xi ; P. S. 
Reinsch, Readings on American Federal Government, ch. 
xiii; Theodore Roosevelt, Autobiography, ch. v; W. D. 
Foulke, Fighting the Spoilsmen, ch. xvii-xviii; Lewis 
Meriam, Principles Governing the Retirement of Public 
Employees, ch. i. 

A detailed description of the Civil Service is published 
each year in the Annual Reports of the Civil Service 
Commission, which may be secured free of charge by 
writing the Commission at Washington, D. C. The Of- 
ficial Register of the United States contains a compre- 
hensive list of government employees. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL WELFARE 

The preamble of the constitution states that the fed- 
eral government was established "to promote the gen- 
eral welfare" of the nation. In order to carry out 
this purpose certain powers were conferred by the 
constitution upon Congress and the President, and 
under these powers Congress has created from time 
to time the various departments and officers which have 
been described in the preceding chapter. Policies relat- 
ing to the public welfare have been enacted by Con- 
gress into law and the duty of enforcing these policies 
has been laid upon the above-mentioned officers. 
In the space of this book it will be impossible to give 
more than a brief account of a few of the problems 
that have to do with national welfare. 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

Because of our distance from Europe the United 
States has been able to remain more aloof from Euro- 
pean affairs than would have been possible if the At- 
lantic Ocean were not between us and the Old World. 
In the early days of the republic when our population 
was small and our economic resources undeveloped, 
Washington adopted a policy of avoiding entangling 
alliances with European powers, although he prophe- 
sied that some time in the future our expanding trade 
would lead us into a world organization. In spite of 
our early hopes for isolation it was not many years be- 
fore we found ourselves considerably involved in a 

157 



158 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

general European conflict, the Napoleonic Wars, and 
in 1 812 we were actually at war with England. Our 
statesmen, however, remained convinced that American 
affairs should be separated, if possible, from European 
affairs; and in 1823 this policy was expressed in the 
Monroe Doctrine. 

The Monroe Doctrine. — The immediate cause for 
the statement of this policy was the proposal of the 
Holy Alliance (Russia, Austria, Prussia and France) 
to aid Spain in the reconquest of her American colo- 
nies. The United States as well as Great Britain ob- 
jected to this undertaking and President Monroe in his 
annual message to Congress stated for the benefit of 
the Holy Alliance that, whereas America did not pro- 
pose to intervene in the internal affairs of European 
countries, she would not tolerate European interven- 
tion in the American hemisphere. "With the existing 
colonies or dependencies of any European power we 
have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with 
the governments who have declared their independence 
and maintained it, and whose independence we have, 
on great consideration and on just principles, acknowl- 
edged, we could not view any interposition for the pur- 
pose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other 
manner their destiny, by any European power, in any 
other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly 
disposition toward the United States." The Monroe 
Doctrine, as modified from time to time, has been the 
cardinal policy of the United States in foreign affairs. 
On numerous occasions it has been invoked for the 
protection of our Latin-American neighbors, as in 1902 
when Roosevelt compelled Great Britain, Italy, and 
Germany to submit their claims against Venezuela to 
arbitration. 



NATIONAL WELFARE 159 

America as a world power. — At the end of the 

nineteenth century events seemed to point to the day 
foreseen by Washington when the United States would 
be compelled to play a more important part in world 
politics. The Spanish-American War resulted in the 
unexpected acquisition of overseas possessions, and 
recent aggressions by the Powers in China led Secre- 
tary Hay to formulate his celebrated Open Door 
Policy. In 1900 Hay won a great diplomatic victory 
by securing the assent of Great Britain, Russia, Ger- 
many, France, Italy and Japan to this policy. Like- 
wise the United States played a leading part in the 
Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 which for- 
mulated codes of International Law and set up the 
Hague Tribunal for the pacific settlement of inter- 
national disputes. The United States and Mexico were 
the first nations to submit a controversy to the decision 
of this international tribunal. In 19 10 ex-President 
Roosevelt startled the world by a speech at Christiania, 
Sweden, proposing that the great powers form a 
League of Peace "not only to keep the peace them- 
selves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being 
broken by others." 

At the outbreak of the World War in 19 14 the 
United States attempted to remain neutral, but eventu- 
ally we were drawn into the great conflict and declared 
war on Germany, April 6, 191 7. The entrance of 
America turned the tide of battle and on November 11, 
1918, an armistice was signed on the basis of Presi- 
dent Wilson's "Fourteen Points." The President him- 
self attended the Peace Conference at Paris and nego- 
tiated personally with the Prime Ministers of Great 
Britain, France, and Italy and the plenipotentiaries of 
the other powers there represented. The President 



160 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

was convinced that the Hague Tribunal was ineffec- 
tive in preventing such catastrophes as the World War 
because it had no force behind it, and, accordingly he 
proposed a League of Nations to compel recalcitrant 
states to keep the peace. The idea was in line with 
Roosevelt's suggestion of 19 10. Due almost entirely 
to President Wilson's insistence, the Powers incorpo- 
rated the covenant of the League of Nations in the 
Treaty of Versailles. After President Wilson's return 
to America, however, the Senate refused to ratify this 
treaty. 

The League of Nations in 192 1 consisted of fifty-one 
states including all the great nations save the United 
States, Russia, Germany, Mexico, and Turkey. All 
nations are represented equally in the Assembly which 
meets each year at Geneva in Switzerland. Nine 
powers are represented in the Council, in which Great 
Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States (if 
we enter the League) have permanent seats while the 
four remaining seats are held by states selected from 
time to time by the Assembly. A new Permanent 
Court of International Justice has been established at 
The Hague. Under the covenant all the members of 
the League are automatically at war with any state, 
whether a member or not, that attacks a member or 
goes to war without fulfilling certain requirements con- 
cerning arbitration and conciliation. The Assembly, 
which meets annually, is a convenient means (as were 
the Hague Conferences) for negotiating treaties for 
the purpose of establishing new principles of Inter- 
national Law. 

International Law may be defined as the rules and 
customs observed by civilized states in their intercourse 
with one another. As we have already implied, some 



NATIONAL WELFARE 161 

of these rules have been collected in such treaties as 
the Hague Conventions of 1899 an< ^ I 9°7- The Su- 
preme Court of the United States has consistently held 
that International Law is a part of the law of our land 
and must be administered by our courts as often as 
questions of right depending upon it are duly presented 
for their determination. 1 

NATIONAL DEFENSE 

The Fathers of the American constitution were not 
unmindful of the necessity for national defense, and, 
accordingly, the constitution gives Congress full power 
to raise and support an army and navy and to lay its 
hand upon every citizen and every dollar within our 
border for this purpose. Ever since the Revolutionary 
War the American people have been opposed to a large 
standing army, and until the World War we have de- 
pended largely upon volunteers to fight our battles. A 
Military Academy, however, has been maintained since 
1802 at West Point for the training of officers. After 
the Civil War our regular army was reduced to 25,000 
men. The various States maintained militia or volun- 
tary organizations. In 19 16, two years after the open- 
ing of the World War, Congress increased the regular 
army to 175,000 men and federalized the militia. The 
National Defense Act of this year defined the militia 
of the United States as all able-bodied male citizens 
from eighteen to forty-five years of age and all other 
able-bodied males of the same ages who have declared 
their intention of becoming citizens. The act divided 
the militia into three classes, the National Guard, the 
Naval Militia and the unorganized militia. The 

1 Compare the case of the "Paquette Habana" and the "Lola," 17s United States 
Reports, 677. 



1 62 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

strength of the National Guard was fixed at about 
440,000 officers and men. In each State the National 
Guard is under the supervision of the Adjutant- 
General of that State as well as the United States War 
Department; and an oath to obey the orders of both 
the Governor and the President of the United States 
is required. 

When the United States entered the World War we 
profited by the recent experience of Great Britain and 
adopted at the outset the policy of conscription. Under 
the Selective Service Law all able-bodied men between 
the ages of eighteen and forty-five (with a few excep- 
tions) were made liable for service, and 23,709,000 
persons were so registered with the 4,557 draft boards. 
Altogether 3,665,000 men were inducted into service, 
and 2,800,000 were actually in France before the war 
came to an end. After the war the regular army w r as 
reduced to 175,000, and efforts were made to recruit 
the National Guard to the authorized strength. 

The World War impressed the American people 
with the necessity for preparedness in the matter of 
defense, and one of the results of this policy has been 
the maintenance of the Reserve Officers' Training 
Corps, for the purpose of supplementing West Point in 
the training of officers. All of the colleges and uni- 
versities which have received land-grants from the fed- 
eral government are required to, and other institutions 
may, maintain student corps under the instruction of 
army officers furnished by the War Department. In 
1 92 1 there were 244 educational institutions having 
units of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and there 
were more than 100,000 students enrolled. The gradu- 
ates of these units are eligible for appointment in the 
Officers' Reserve Corps, which, together with the regu- 



NATIONAL WELFARE 163 

lar army, serves as a skeleton organization prepared for 
training a larger army in case of national emergency. 

The American Navy. — The naval history of the 
United States is a subject which an American citizen 
may contemplate with a considerable degree of pride. 
The traditions of our navy have long been household 
stories. Every schoolboy knows that John Paul Jones, 
in command of the Bonhomme Richard, encountered 
Captain Pearson with the Serapis and Scarborough, 
and, running into one of the ships of his antagonist, 
was compelled to cease firing for a moment. Cap- 
tain Pearson then called out, "Have you struck your 
colors?" — to which Jones replied, "I have not yet 
begun to fight." Many years later, in an engagement 
off Boston Harbor between the Chesapeake and the 
frigate Shannon, the mortally wounded Captain James 
Lawrence cried as he was borne below, "Don't give up 
the ship." Such stories have more than a heroic ap- 
peal ; the wise teacher has used them to point a moral 
and teach a lesson of courage for fighting life's battles 
every day. 

The victories of the American navy in the Revolu- 
tionary War, the expeditions to Tripoli and Tunis to 
punish the Barbary pirates, and the War of 1812 make 
a long story of maritime achievements. In 1853 Com- 
modore Perry with four American warships visited 
Japan, and as a result of his tact and courtesy the her- 
mit nation was induced to open a few of her ports to 
foreign trade. This was the beginning of the sudden 
rise of the Japanese Empire as a world power. In 
the Civil War we introduced the use of the ironclad. 
For the Spanish-American War, America was well 
prepared on the sea although poorly prepared on land. 
Our victories at Manila Bay and Santiago were com- 



164 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

plete, and as a result the war was soon ended. Ten years 
later, in Roosevelt's administration, our Atlantic fleet 
of sixteen ships demonstrated that it was possible for 
a fleet of battleships to make a cruise of the world. In 
the World War, after the destruction of the German 
fleet, our navy became second only to England's. 
Congress authorized, in 191 6, an extensive naval pro- 
gram. Five years later the composition of the fleet was 
as follows: the Atlantic Fleet, 189 vessels; the Pacific 
Fleet, 192 vessels; and the Asiatic Fleet, 17 vessels. 
The cost of our navy reached half a billion dollars a 
year. This is an enormous burden upon taxpayers, 
and in 1921 President Harding invited Great Britain, 
France, Italy, Japan, and China to meet in a conference 
in Washington to discuss disarmament as well as the 
settlement of the problem of the control of the Pacific. 

TAXATION AND FINANCE 

Under the constitution Congress has power to levy 
and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises. It 
would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this 
power, for there is profound truth in the statement of 
Chief Justice Marshall that "the power to tax involves 
the power to destroy." Indeed, if this power were 
unlimited by the constitution and unrestrained by wise 
legislators, the federal government might use it to de- 
stroy the State governments or to abolish any kind of 
private property or any form of business. 

The primary purpose of taxation is that of supplying 
funds for the support of the government. In recent 
years there has been an enormous increase in the 
amount of money required by the federal government. 
Part of this increase in late years is due to the depre- 
ciation in value of the dollar and to obligations grow- 



NATIONAL WELFARE 165 

ing out of the World War, but much of the increase 
is due to expanded governmental activities. The fol- 
lowing chart will indicate this expansion in our 
finances. 

FEDERAL REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE 

Year Revenue Expenditure 

1791 $4,409,000 $3,097,000 

i860 $56,954,600 $63,200,876 

1890 $403,080,983 $297,736,487 

1900 $567,240,854 $487,713,487 

I9H $734,673.167 $700,254,490 

1920 $6,694,565,389 . . . .$6,403,343,841 

Taxation is the chief source of our national revenue. 
The proceeds of the public land sales and the Panama 
Canal tolls are included in our revenues, but these 
sums are comparatively small. Until 1909 our prin- 
cipal federal taxes were the tariff and internal revenue 
taxes on liquors and tobacco. In 1909 an income tax 
on corporations was levied, and in 191 3 an income tax 
on the incomes of all persons above a minimum of 
$3,000 for unmarried persons and $4,000 for married 
persons. A tax rate of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 per cent 
was levied on all incomes above $3,000, $20,000, $75,- 
000, $100,000, $250,000 and $500,000 respectively. 
The personal exemption of $3,000 for unmarried and 
$4,000 for married persons was free of tax in all in- 
comes ; and the progressive higher rates did not apply 
to a person's total income, but only to the fraction in 
excess of the amount which called for the higher rate. 
During the World War, the income tax rates were 
greatly increased and the exemption was lowered. 
This tax has become, perhaps, the most important item 
in our national tax system. 



1 66 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

It is a sound principle of public finance that no more 
money should be taken from the people in form of 
taxes than is actually needed by the government. A 
large surplus in the treasury merely tempts the govern- 
ment to extravagance. In the past the United States 
has been exceedingly careless in the matter of treas- 
ury balances. The English Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, in normal times, would be humiliated if the 
expenditure side and the revenue side of his account 
did not nicely balance. But in 1890, the federal treas- 
ury had a surplus of more than $100,000,000 and this 
happens year after year. Congressmen are under 
severe pressure from their constituents to secure appro- 
priations of federal money to spend in their congres- 
sional districts. Every town and village wants an 
imposing post-office building; appropriations are de- 
manded for the purpose of dredging out rivers with 
the hope that commerce will be diverted into new 
courses; demands are made for roads, monuments, 
pensions, and many other things. The unrivaled pros- 
perity of the United States in the past has led Con- 
gress into very extravagant habits, and the lack of any 
centralized responsibility for financial legislation in 
Congress also has brought chaos into our national 
finances. The Committee on Ways and Means in the 
House and the Committee on Finance in the Senate are 
concerned with the drafting of revenue bills; while 
the Committee on Appropriations and seven other 
committees in the House and two committees in the 
Senate report appropriation bills. There has been no 
connection between the policy of raising revenue and 
the policy of spending revenue ; and thus America, with 
the "glorious privilege of youth," as Lord Bryce once 
remarked, has wasted millions annually. 



NATIONAL WELFARE 167 

Budgetary reform. — The enormous expenditures of 
the federal government following the World War di- 
rected the attention of the American people toward 
economy. Although practically every other country 
in the world, and many of the States of the Union, had 
adopted budgetary systems, the United States had 
none. The budget of Great Britain, which is justly ad- 
mired, is of the sort known as an executive budget. 
The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Cabinet 
annually prepares an estimate of the expenditures and 
the revenues of the government. He also drafts and 
introduces into the House of Commons a Finance Bill 
providing for the raising of revenue and an Appropria- 
tion Bill for appropriating money. An endeavor is 
made to consolidate into these two bills all the taxes 
and appropriations of the government. Under a rule 
adopted more than two hundred years ago the Com- 
mons may not increase any appropriation which the 
Cabinet has proposed, nor may it propose any new item. 
This feature acts as a powerful check on extravagance. 

An initial step in budgetary reform was taken in 
1 92 1 with the creation by act of Congress of the office 
of Director of the Budget. This officer is responsible 
only to the President. He has the duty of preparing 
an itemized report of the money required each year by 
all departments and the miscellaneous institutions of 
the government, and he has power to cut down any 
estimate proposed by any department or officer. The 
President transmits the report of the Director of the 
Budget to Congress. No other administrative officer 
may apply to Congress for appropriations. The estab- 
lishment of the office of Director of the Budget has 
already effected considerable economy in our national 
government. 



1 68 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Money and banking. — Congress has the exclusive 
power to coin money. The money of the United 
States is of two kinds : metal coins and paper money. 
By act of Congress in 1900 the American monetary 
system rests on a gold basis ; that is to say, silver coins 
are subsidiary and the monetary standard is the dollar 
expressed in gold. The paper currency is of four kinds : 
(1) government notes; (2) certificates of coin or bul- 
lion in the treasury; (3) national bank notes, and 
(4) Federal Reserve Bank notes. 

Years of experience have proved that banking is an 
exception to the general rule that the government 
should not interfere too largely in business. Govern- 
mental regulation of banking institutions is necessary, 
otherwise ignorant and unscrupulous persons would 
engage in this business, robbing depositors of their 
funds and creating financial panics. When Alexander 
Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury a United 
States Bank was chartered, and this institution exer- 
cised a wholesome influence on banking all over the 
country; but through the antagonism of Andrew Jack- 
son the federal government withdrew its support and 
this centralized banking system came to an end in 1836, 
the abrupt change helping to bring about the great 
Panic of 1837. Thereafter the United States lacked 
a good system of bank regulation. Banking houses 
were chartered under State laws. In 1863 Congress 
provided for the chartering of banks under federal 
law, and these banks were given the exclusive right to 
issue bank notes guaranteed by United States govern- 
ment bonds. This system, however, proved utterly 
inadequate. The bank currency was inelastic, it did 
not expand and contract to meet financial needs of the 
country. In the summer and autumn when the crops 



NATIONAL WELFARE 169 

were harvested and moved eastward, money was 
always difficult to obtain and a yearly stringency oc- 
curred, while in the winter and spring the money mar- 
ket was expanded; deposits then accumulated in New 
York, where they stimulated speculation and precipi- 
tated panics. 

The Federal Reserve Banks. — In 191 3 the Fed- 
eral Reserve Act was passed by Congress. Under this 
act the country is divided into twelve districts each 
having a Federal Reserve Bank located at the follow- 
ing cities : Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, 
Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, 
Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco. The Fed- 
eral Reserve Banks do not conduct a banking business 
for individuals. They are banks for banks. Their 
capital stock is held by the national and State banks 
which become members of the system. Any member 
bank, if it needs more funds, may rediscount its notes, 
drafts and bills of exchange issued or drawn for agri- 
cultural, industrial or commercial purposes with the 
Federal Reserve Bank in its district. That is to say, 
the local banks may obtain additional funds from the 
reserve bank by disposing of their "commercial paper" 
to this bank. Such a system relieves the local banks 
from the embarrassing stringencies which used to oc- 
cur annually. The rates for rediscounting are subject 
to review by the Federal Reserve Board at Washing- 
ton. If it is evident that the local banks are loaning 
money too freely, the Federal Reserve Board will 
raise the rates of rediscount; credit is thus more diffi- 
cult to obtain and speculation will be checked. The 
Federal Reserve Banks issue notes which are a part of 
our paper currency. Unquestionably the new system 
has provided an admirable means of expanding and 



170 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

contracting the currency of the United States and has 
inaugurated a new era in American banking. 

REGULATION OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE 

One of the reasons for the adoption of the federal 
constitution was the desire to improve the economic 
condition of the States after the Revolutionary War. 
Hence the constitution provided that "Congress shall 
have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
and among the several States, and with the Indian 
tribes." In a previous chapter we have already seen 
that the interpretation of this power has been expanded 
from time to time, keeping pace with the progress of 
the country. By a long line of judicial decisions, 
"interstate commerce" has been interpreted to mean 
the transportation of passengers and commodities from 
one State into another. It also includes the transmis- 
sion of orders and information by telegraph or tele- 
phone from one State into another. Intrastate com- 
merce, or commerce wholly within the borders of one 
State, is not, of course, subject to federal regulation 
under the commerce clause of the constitution. The 
regulation of interstate commerce may be treated under 
three groups: (i) regulation of the railways, (2) pre- 
vention of conspiracies in restraint of trade and unfair 
competition, and (3) regulation of various things in 
behalf of public health, safety, and morals. 

Regulation of the railways. — The growth of rail- 
ways in the United States has been remarkable. In 
i860 there were 30,626 miles in operation; in 1914 
there were 263,547 miles, twice as many as in any 
other country in the world. After the Civil War the 
railways were compelled by competition to resort to 
many unfair practices like granting rebates to large or 



NATIONAL WELFARE 171 

favored shippers and making other unjust discrimina- 
tions. The various States attempted to compel the 
railways to abandon these abuses, but their attempts 
were not successful. Finally, in 1887, Congress es- 
tablished the Interstate Commerce Commission and 
provided certain regulations for all railways engaged 
in interstate commerce. More recent laws have ex- 
tended these regulations. The granting of rebates and 
discriminations among shippers is prohibited. All 
freight rates and passenger fares must be published; 
and no change may be made in the published schedule 
except upon thirty days' notice to the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission, which has power to compel a rail- 
way to charge a reasonable rate. If a shipper believes 
that a rate is unreasonable, he may complain to the 
Interstate Commerce Commission. A hearing will then 
be held at which attorneys for the shipper and the rail- 
way may appear and give evidence and arguments on 
their respective sides of the case. The commission 
then makes a decision. The work of the commission 
has been eminently successful in securing justice as be- 
tween the shippers and the railways. 

Conspiracies and unfair competition. — In the 
latter part of the nineteenth century the American 
people became alarmed over the rapid growth of huge 
corporations and "trusts." Some of these organiza- 
tions had used unfair means in stifling competition. 
In reply to the popular demand, in 1890, Congress 
passed the celebrated Sherman Anti-trust Act, de- 
signed "to protect trade and commerce against unlawful 
restraints and monopolies." This law forbade all com- 
binations or conspiracies in restraint of interstate trade. 
It was several years before the federal government was 
able to prosecute violators under this law; but event- 



172 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ually the Standard Oil Company and the Tobacco 
Trust were ordered dissolved by the federal courts. In 
the meantime President Roosevelt had made a dis- 
tinction between "good" trusts and "bad" trusts, plac- 
ing in the former category all corporations, no matter 
how large, which used fair methods of competition, 
and in the latter category all corporations which used 
unfair and vicious methods. In line with this same 
policy the Supreme Court in 1920 dismissed the suit 
against the United States Steel Corporation when 
the competitors of this corporation testified that its 
methods of business were fair and when the court was 
convinced that the corporation was not a monopoly. 

The Clayton Act of 1914 extended the regulation of 
the federal government by defining certain unfair meth- 
ods of competition in interstate commerce. The Fed- 
eral Trade Commission was created to enforce the act. 

Public health, safety and morals. — Congress 
has used its power under the commerce clause of the 
constitution to pass laws for promoting the public 
health, safety and morals. Under the Pure Food and 
Drugs Act of 1906 all fraudulent and unhealthful 
foods and drugs are prohibited in interstate commerce. 
Under the Meat Inspection Act all meats shipped in 
interstate commerce must be carefully examined by 
federal inspectors. The Net- Weight Act requires that 
packages of food and drugs shall contain the quantity 
marked on the label. In the interest of public morals 
Congress has prohibited the sending of lottery tickets 
through the mails, or in any other way, from State to 
State. 

GOVERNMENT AND LABOR 

The labor problem and its relation to government 



NATIONAL WELFARE 173 

has become a very important question in recent years, 
partly because of an awakening interest in the im- 
provement of labor conditions and partly because the 
organization of workmen into trade unions has pro- 
duced serious clashes between capital and labor. The 
American Federation of Labor was organized in 1886 
as a national combination of trade unions. In 1920 it 
had a membership of 4,078,740. The cardinal purpose 
of trade unions is to force employers to adopt the 
"closed shop" and to employ only members of the union 
as workmen. Then by a "collective bargain," arranged 
between the officials of the trade union and the mana- 
gers of the factory or railway, agreements upon wages 
and conditions of labor may be reached. Some em- 
ployers have been unwilling to accept the "closed shop," 
and a grim struggle between capital and labor has often 
been the result. In these contests, the trade unions 
sometimes resort to the "strike" and the "boycott." A 
"strike" is the concerted quitting of work by the union 
men, and this is usually followed by "picketing," which 
means the posting of groups of union men at the ap- 
proaches to the establishment against which the strike 
is declared for the purpose of persuading strike- 
breakers from work. The "boycott" is an attempt to 
prevent the use of nonunion-made goods. 

In the struggles between labor and capital the law has 
been almost always on the side of the employer. The 
use of violence or intimidation upon a nonunion man 
to prevent his taking the place of a striker is a crim- 
inal act, and the courts have been inclined to protect an 
employer's property even from indirect injury, hold- 
ing that anything tending to bar the free and uninter- 
rupted access to a factory is unlawful. Thus the 
courts, upon application from employers, have granted 



174 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

injunctions commanding employees to refrain from 
such injuries to property. Any person who disobeys 
an injunction of a court is in contempt of court, and his 
offense is determined and punished not by trial before 
a jury, but by the judge alone. 

Since corporations are frequently "citizens" of an- 
other State than that in which the striking employees 
reside, it has been possible for them during labor dis- 
putes to obtain injunctions from the federal courts as 
well as from the State courts. Naturally, when the 
officials of a labor union are conducting a strike in 
an orderly manner such a formidable document as an 
injunction from a federal court is a very discouraging 
obstacle, and the unions have complained with some 
justice that injunctions are a hardship. After a long 
political controversy over this question, the Clayton 
Act which was passed by Congress in 19 14, legalized 
peaceful picketing and labor assemblies (as far as 
federal jurisdiction is concerned) and provided rules 
of procedure which the federal courts must follow in 
issuing injunctions in labor disputes. No injunction 
may be issued except when the judge is convinced that 
immediate and irreparable injury will result and then a 
speedy hearing must be had. 

Industrial warfare is costly and inconvenient to the 
public. Hence there has been a growing demand for 
improved means for the settlement of labor disputes by 
arbitration. The Transportation Act passed by Con- 
gress in 1920 is a landmark of progress in this respect. 
It created the Railroad Labor Board with headquar- 
ters at Chicago. If any dispute as to wages or condi- 
tions of labor between the management and the em- 
ployees of an interstate railroad cannot be settled in 
the shop nor by a local board of adjustment, it is re- 



NATIONAL WELFARE 175 

ferred to the Railroad Labor Board. This central 
board consists of nine members appointed by the Presi- 
dent with the consent of the Senate. Three of the 
members represent the public, three represent labor, 
and three represent the railroads. The decision ren- 
dered by the board is not binding upon either the rail- 
roads or the employees; but public opinion in the 
United States is so strongly in favor of arbitration in 
labor disputes that both the railroads and the em- 
ployees feel constrained to accept the award. The crea- 
tion of the Railroad Labor Board is one of the most 
progressive steps that the government has yet taken 
in industrial reconstruction. 

CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES 

The United States has possessed at one time or an- 
other a public domain of 2,889,000 square miles. Much 
of this land has been sold to settlers or given outright 
to schools and railway corporations. To-day eight 
hundred thousand square miles remain in the hands of 
the government, chiefly mountain ranges and deserts, 
a large part being in Alaska. As our national estate 
has decreased, farsighted statesmen have seen the ne- 
cessity of adopting some plan of preserving a portion 
of the people's heritage. The "conservation move- 
ment" received considerable impetus from Roosevelt 
when President; he even attempted to enlist the coop- 
eration of the State governments by calling the Con- 
ference of Governors at the White House in 1908. 
Roosevelt was particularly interested in the preserva- 
tion of the forests, and he gave enthusiastic support 
to the plans of Gifford Pinchot, the Director of the 
Forest Service. Our forests once covered about 822,- 
000,000 acres. They have now shrunk to 133,000,000 



176 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

acres of virgin timber. Fires, disease, and wasteful 
timbering without replanting have caused this great 
inroad upon the timber lands. At the present rate of 
consumption our woods will be exhausted in another 
half century. Forests are necessary to conserve the 
water supply in the mountains, to prevent floods and 
erosion of hillside farms. Moreover, the sources of 
many streams are in the forests, and if the government 
grants these lands to private persons and corpora- 
tions, it loses control of water power and the produc- 
tion of electricity. The Geological Survey has esti- 
mated that the water power in the United States avail- 
able for development amounts to 54,000,000 continu- 
ous horse power. As coal becomes less abundant the 
importance of this supply of energy can scarcely be 
over emphasized. In 1906 Pinchot and Roosevelt 
developed the policy of leasing the use of power-sites 
to electric power companies for a limited period of 
forty years at an annual rental. Under the old method 
the federal government granted absolute ownership of 
these lands. In promoting his policy of conservation 
of resources Roosevelt took advantage of a law of 
1 89 1 giving the President authority to set aside by 
proclamation any part of the public domain covered 
with timber as public reservations. Under this law, 
Roosevelt withdrew large blocks of public lands, and 
incorporated them in the National Forests. In 1907 
powerful interests in Congress sought to undo this 
policy of forest preservation, and a "rider" was at- 
tached to the Agricultural Bill which prohibited the 
creation of new forest preserves in the northwest ex- 
cept by act of Congress. Roosevelt, however, defeated 
the opponents of his policy by quickly withdrawing 
millions of acres of forest lands in the northwest before 



NATIONAL WELFARE 177 

signing the bill. At present there are 151 National 
Forests covering 153,933,460 acres. The management 
of this huge domain is no small task. 

The development of an inland waterways system is 
another project to which more attention will be de- 
voted in the future. The waterways of the United 
States have a total length of more than 70,000 miles, 
but only half of this mileage is now used. At present 
commerce is increasing more rapidly than are our rail- 
way facilities and there is need for a greater use of our 
rivers, canals, and lakes. At the same time water car- 
riage is cheaper than transportation by rail. While 
Congress has spent much money in the past on rivers 
and harbors, the work has been haphazard and unsys- 
tematic. In behalf of economy and permanency more 
coordination of governmental agencies is needed. 
National projects should have precedence over local 
demands. This will probably be the policy in the fu- 
ture. In 1920 the Inland and Coastwise Waterways 
Service was established under the Department of War. 

For Further Reading 

Foreign Policy of the United States. — A. B. Hart, 
The Monroe Doctrine, ch. iii, iv, xiv; J. B. Moore, Amer- 
ican Diplomacy, ch. vi, viii ; J. H. Latane, From Isolation 
to World Power, ch. i, ix ; W. E. Dodd, Woodrow Wilson 
and His Work, ch. xiv ; Covenant of the League of Na- 
tions (Text sent to any address on receipt of five cents 
in stamps by the World Peace Foundation, 40 Mount 
Vernon St., Boston, Mass.). 

National Defense. — C. A. Beard, American Govern- 
ment and Politics, xviii ; Everett Kimball, National Gov- 
ernment of the United States, ch. xvii; Maj.-Gen. 
Leonard Wood, Our Military History, ch. i, vii; Rear- 
Admiral F. E. Chadwick, The American Navy, ch. xxii. 



178 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

See also the Annual Reports of the Secretary of War 
and the Secretary of the Navy. 

Finance and Taxation. — C. A. Beard, American 
Government and Politics, ch. xvii; W. B. Munro, Gov- 
ernment of the United States, ch. xv, xvi, xxi; Richard 
T. Ely, Outlines of Economics, ch. xxiii-xxiv; C. C. 
Plehn, Introduction to Public Finance, pp. 262-290; 
W. F. Willoughby, Problem of a National Budget, 
ch. viii. 

Money and Banking. — D. R. Dewey, Financial His- 
tory of the United States, ch. xxi. 

Regulation of Interstate Commerce. — J. T. 
Young, New American Government and Its Work, ch. 
vi-ix; W. B. Munro, Government of the United States, 
ch. xvii ; R. T. Ely, Outlines of Economics, ch. xiii ; E. R. 
Johnson, American Railway Transportation, ch. xxv- 
xxiv; Theodore Roosevelt, Autobiography, ch. xii. 

Government and Labor. — G. G. Groat, Organised 
Labor in America, ch. xii, xxi, xviii, xxiv ; Monthly Labor 
Review (U. S. Dept. of Labor), April, 1920, pp. 50-57; 

May, 1920, pp. 46-49; J ul y> i9 20 » PP- 2 6-43- 

Conservation of Natural Resources. — C. A. Beard, 
American Government and Politics, ch. xx; C. R. Van 
Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources in the United 
States, 1-14, 359-379; Electric Power Development in the 
United States (Washington: 1915), II, n-15. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE COURTS : NATIONAL AND STATE 

No government can long endure which does not 
possess some permanent and ready means for main- 
taining justice. The means should be ready because 
belated justice often fails to right a wrong or to teach 
a moral lesson, and permanent because judgments 
upon human conduct should not vacillate with the 
whims and fancies of the day, but should be based upon 
ethical precepts which have grown out of years of 
human experience. The process for rendering such 
justice in the American government is supplied by the 
judiciary. 

As the principal organ of the national government 
for maintaining justice, the Fathers intended that the 
federal courts should settle all disputes among the 
States of the Union, and between the States and the 
central government, while it should also protect the 
rights of citizens of the United States as guaranteed 
to them in the constitution in precisely the same fashion 
that the existing State courts protected the rights of 
citizens within their respective States as guaranteed 
under the State constitutions. 

ORGANIZATION AND JURISDICTION OF THE 
FEDERAL COURTS 

The constitution provides that there shall be a Su- 
preme Court of the United States and such inferior 
courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish. It also provides that the judges shall be 

179 



180 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

appointed by the President by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate and that "the judges, both of 
the supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices 
during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, re- 
ceive for their services a compensation which shall not 
be diminished during their continuance in office." This 
provision gives the justices of the Supreme Court an 
independence which is necessary for maintaining a 
strong judiciary. It does not mean, however, that an 
unworthy judge may continue to hold office. He may 
be impeached by the House of Representatives before 
the Senate for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes 
and misdemeanors," and if convicted he is removed 
from office. Such impeachments have been very rare, 
for the judicial officers of the United States have been 
a class of men of unusually high moral character and 
legal attainments. 

Organization of the federal courts. — Congress 
has provided for the organization and procedure of 
the federal courts in the Judiciary Act of 1789, which 
has been amended from time to time as the need for 
more courts has grown. At present the federal ju- 
diciary consists of the Supreme Court, nine Circuit 
Courts of Appeal, and eighty-one District Courts, to- 
gether with several special courts which we shall 
specify a little later. There are nine justices in the Su- 
preme Court — one Chief Justice and eight Associate 
Justices. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is 
determined partly by the constitution and partly by 
act of Congress. Its original jurisdiction (that is, its 
hearing of cases in the first instance) is small, and is 
limited to only two classes of cases, those in which 
either ambassadors or else States are parties. Its ap- 
pellate jurisdiction is more extensive. In general, this 



THE COURTS 181 

includes: (i) all cases from State courts wherein it 
is claimed that a law or treaty of the United States or 
a right under the federal constitution has not been 
upheld, and (2) certain cases that may be appealed 
from the District Courts and from the Circuit Court 
of Appeals. 

Next below the Supreme Court come the Circuit 
Courts of Appeal. Under the Act of 191 1 the States 
are grouped into nine circuits. In each Circuit Court 
of Appeal are two or more circuit judges. These 
courts have no original jurisdiction, but very large ap- 
pellate power. They may review upon writ of error 
all cases decided by the District Courts in the circuit 
except those which are carried directly to the Supreme 
Court. Their judgments and decrees are in many cases 
final. 

In the last place the United States is organized into 
eighty-one judicial districts, each of which has a Dis- 
trict Court. These are the lowest federal courts. They 
have all the original jurisdiction of the federal ju- 
diciary, with a few exceptions. 

Besides the courts above mentioned there are a 
number of special federal courts. In 1855 the Court 
of Claims was established. As we have already seen, 
it is beneath the dignity of a sovereign State to be sued 
by an individual, and yet many instances occur in which 
individuals are entitled to reparation for some act or 
neglect of the government. To render justice to such 
claimants the Court of Claims was created with juris- 
diction to hear and determine the merits of all claims, 
with some exceptions, for damages against the 
United States. The Court of Customs Appeal was 
established in 1909 to review decisions of the customs 
officials in respect to the classification of merchandise 



182 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and imposing of duties under the tariff laws. There 
are also special courts for the District of Columbia 
and the territories — Alaska, the Philippines, Porto 
Rico, and Hawaii. Under treaty agreement with 
China a United States court was established in 1906 
at Shanghai with jurisdiction to try certain cases in- 
volving American citizens. 

Jurisdiction of the federal courts. — The jurisdic- 
tion of the federal courts was definitely prescribed in 
the constitution. Altogether there are nine classes of 
cases over which the federal courts have jurisdiction. 
It will not be necessary to describe all these classes in 
detail. It will be sufficient to give a few examples of 
cases which come before the federal courts. In the 
first place, all suits involving the rights claimed under 
the constitution, acts of Congress, or treaties with a 
foreign power are within the sphere of the federal 
judiciary. A person or corporation which is prose- 
cuted in a State court under a law which seems to in- 
fringe any part of the federal constitution, as, for in- 
stance, the provision that no person shall be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property without due process of law, 
may seek relief in the federal courts. Again, all ques- 
tions involving the right of subjects of a foreign state 
to inherit property under a treaty are brought into a 
federal court. 

All criminal prosecutions instituted by the United 
States against persons or corporations for infractions 
of federal law are heard in the District Courts, and, 
in certain cases, on appeal they come before the Su- 
preme Court. For example, we may cite the case of 
the Northern Securities Company. In 1901 President 
Roosevelt directed Attorney-General Knox to file a 
bill in the federal court at Saint Paul against this cor- 



THE COURTS 183 

poration for alleged violation of the Sherman Anti- 
Trust Law. The federal court granted the petition of 
the government and ordered the combination to be 
dissolved. The Northern Securities Company then ap- 
pealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the de- 
cree of the lower court. 

The bulk of the litigation in the federal courts con- 
sists of suits between citizens of different States. Suits 
between citizens of different States are frequently 
prosecuted in the State courts, but in all such cases, 
on motion of either party, the suit may be removed to 
the federal District Court. Of course the suit may be 
brought in the federal court in the first place. The 
framers of the constitution extended the jurisdiction 
of the United States judiciary over cases of diverse 
citizenship in order to secure to the parties in such cases 
a trial before a court free from any prejudice or bias 
that might exist in a State court on account of the citi- 
zenship of any of the parties to the suit. The business 
relations of many corporations and even persons reach 
into more than one State, and thus it happens that a 
large proportion of the suits brought against them for 
breaches of contract or other causes, or of suits prose- 
cuted by them, is likely to involve parties outside of 
their own State. For purposes of jurisdiction a cor- 
poration is presumed to be a citizen of the State within 
which it is chartered; and any plaintiff residing in a 
different State may bring his suit in the federal District 
Court of the district in which the main offices of the 
corporation are located. 

THE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE OF THE FEDERAL 
COURTS 

The practice and procedure in the federal courts is 



1 84 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

determined partly by the federal constitution, partly by 
act of Congress, and partly by regulations made by the 
courts. This procedure involves many technical rules 
with which, of course, the attorney who is admitted to 
practice in the federal courts must be familiar, but 
which we cannot here describe in detail. Suffice it to 
say that the procedure of the federal courts is freed 
from much of the irrelevant and confusing considera- 
tions which complicate procedure in the State courts. 
The federal judges also exercise considerable authority 
in the management of the trial and in assisting the 
jury to analyze and sum up the evidence. As a result, 
legal technicalities do not so frequently obstruct justice, 
and prejudiced appeals to juries are less common. 
Lawbreakers prefer to be tried in State courts. On 
the other hand, litigants in suits over which the fed- 
eral and the State judiciary have concurrent jurisdic- 
tion often resort to the federal courts in preference to 
the State courts. This varies, of course, with the 
States; the judiciary of some States, especially Massa- 
chusetts and New York, have an exceedingly high repu- 
tation for juristic learning; but, as a rule, the federal 
judges are held in greater respect than State judges. 
Moreover, cases involving a constitutional question 
reach a final decision more rapidly by an immediate 
resort to the federal courts. 

Procedure in the Supreme Court. — Nearly all of 
the cases heard by the Supreme Court are cases that 
come before this court on appeal. 

The Supreme Court sits in Washington from Octo- 
ber to the end of May. The sessions are held in the 
old Senate Chamber in the Capitol at noon on every 
week-day except Saturdays. At these sessions are 
heard the oral arguments of the attorneys in the cases 



THE COURTS 185 

before the Court. Briefs are also filed, together with 
records of the case, which the justices study with care. 
On Saturday of each week the Court meets in confer- 
ence and discusses the cases which have been argued. 
Finally the roll is called and each justice votes to af- 
firm, reverse, or modify the judgment of the lower 
court. The Chief Justice then distributes the cases 
among the justices, one justice becoming the organ of 
the court in writing the majority opinion. Other jus- 
tices may write concurring or dissenting opinions if 
they desire. 

Prestige of the Supreme Court. — The Supreme 
Court of the United States is perhaps the most 
conspicuous national tribunal in the world. It enjoys 
a position that is unique among the great courts of our 
civilization. Unlike the judicial systems of Great 
Britain and of continental European countries, the 
American courts have the power to pass upon the va- 
lidity of acts of the legislatures, and the Supreme 
Court is the final authority in testing the constitution- 
ality of acts of Congress. It is, moreover, a branch of 
government coordinate with the President and Con- 
gress. 

Power to declare acts unconstitutional. — In an 
earlier chapter we have seen that the Supreme Court 
first asserted its power to determine the constitutional- 
ity of acts of Congress and of the State legislatures in 
the celebrated case of Marbury vs. Madison in 1803. 
Among publicists there has been a long controversy 
as to whether or not the framers of the constitution 
intended to lodge this power in the hands of the federal 
courts. Evidence can be produced to show that such 
indeed was the intention of many members of the Con- 
stitutional Convention. But, irrespective of original in- 



i86 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tentions, it is difficult to see how it would be possible, 
under the letter and spirit of the constitution, for the 
federal courts to be without this authority. The con- 
stitution is described as the supreme law of the land; 
and since the federal courts are given authority to de- 
clare what is law under the constitution, they must 
have the power to refuse to recognize as law an act of 
Congress or an act of a State legislature which they 
find to be contrary to any provision of the constitution. 
Whatever may have been the doubts upon the existence 
of this power in the early part of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, it is unquestioned to-day. Up to 191 1 the Su- 
preme Court considered 1,183 cases in which the con- 
stitutionality of a federal or State statute was 
questioned. In 904 cases the statutes were upheld and 
only in 279 cases were the statutes declared uncon- 
stitutional. In only 218 cases were federal acts under 
consideration, and in only 33 of these cases were the 
statutes declared to be unconstitutional. 

Character of the justices of the Supreme Court. 
— The reputation of our Supreme Court both at home 
and abroad does not depend solely upon the power of 
the court to declare acts of Congress to be unconstitu- 
tional. The men who have been appointed as justices 
have almost invariably been jurists of the highest 
character and legal attainments. America has been 
fortunate in possessing some of the greatest jurists 
of the age. A succession of eminent judges have oc- 
cupied seats on the Supreme Court and by their great 
ability and learning they have contributed to the pres- 
tige of American law. 

Among the great jurists who have presided over the 
Supreme Court, John Marshall stands foremost. From 
1 80 1 to 1835 he was Chief Justice. This was the 



THE COURTS 187 

period when the powers of the federal government be- 
gan to unfold in more complete form and when the 
liberal opinions of Marshall and his associates per- 
mitted the progressive development of the constitution 
which we have more than once remarked in the pages 
of this book. Most Anglo-Saxons like the law to be 
consistent; and legal principles once established are 
seldom changed without good reason. Hence the great 
constitutional decisions rendered by the Court under 
Justice Marshall became precedents which have influ- 
enced constitutional law down to the present day. 

THE STATE COURTS 

The greater part of the litigation in the United 
States comes before the State courts. There are few 
citizens who are not at some time in their life con- 
cerned with a case in these tribunals. If he is a mer- 
chant and wishes to collect a debt from another person 
residing in his State, he brings suit in the proper State 
tribunal. He would bring suit in the federal courts 
in case the debtor were a resident of another State. 
If he is injured through the negligence of a neighbor, 
he may sue for damages. If he makes a contract for 
purchasing a house and the owner refuses to deliver 
the property, he may institute an action at law for 
damages or he may file a bill in equity for the specific 
performance of the contract. In many other ways he 
comes into contact with the courts. He may be sum- 
moned as a witness to tell what he knows of circum- 
stances involved in a lawsuit. He may be summoned 
to serve upon the jury. Finally, upon his death, his 
last will and testament is probated in court. 

The organization of the State courts. — The judi- 
cial systems of the States vary in organization. They 



1 88 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

are alike in one respect : in each State there is a graded 
series of courts. 

(i) The lowest courts are the justice of the peace 
courts and municipal police courts. In Illinois there 
are 2,900 justices of the peace and 650 police magis- 
trates. They have jurisdiction in criminal actions in 
which punishment is by fine only and does not exceed 
$300, and in a large variety of civil cases where the 
amount claimed does not exceed $300. In rural com- 
munities the work of the justices of the peace is ordi- 
narily well done; but in urban centers this is rather 
the exception. Appeals may be taken from both the 
justices of the peace and the police magistrates to the 
higher courts. 

(2) The next grade of courts includes the county 
courts and the city courts. In most States each county 
has a court of record, which has jurisdiction over 
civil suits, appeals from the justices of the peace 
and municipal police courts, probating of wills, and 
criminal prosecution of offenses against the laws of the 
State. Many cities have municipal courts not under 
the jurisdiction of the county courts. Over these 
tribunals presides a judge who in most States is elected 
by the people for a term of six years. (3) Finally 
each State has a tribunal of last resort variously called 
a Supreme Court, Court of Errors, or Court of Ap- 
peals. These courts have a very limited original ju- 
risdiction. Cases come to them on appeal from the 
lower courts. 

Many of the States have special courts. Some 
States have probate or surrogates' courts for the set- 
tlement of estates of deceased persons, although this 
is usually the work of county courts. There are also 
courts of claims for hearing and determining claims 



THE COURTS 189 

against the State. Many cities have special courts. 
Cleveland has a Conciliation Court, where without the 
presence of lawyers litigants present cases involving 
less than fifty dollars and the judge arranges an ad- 
justment between the opposing parties. New York 
has a Night Court, and Chicago a Morals Court for the 
expeditious judging of persons arrested for offenses 
against public decency. Many cities have a Court of 
Domestic Relations where a judge who is a specialist 
in this branch of law hears cases regarding marital re- 
lations. Such courts are necessary in order that 
wronged women and children without the means to 
employ a lawyer may obtain justice under the law. A 
deserting husband is summoned and compelled to sup- 
port his family. Quarrels between husband and wife 
are adjusted. 

Juvenile courts. — Many cities also have established 
Juvenile Courts. The modern science of psychology 
bids fair to revolutionize our treatment of crime. Em- 
phasis has been placed upon the need for treating cases 
individually instead of collectively, for giving special 
treatment to abnormal persons, and, above all, for res- 
cuing children from careers of crime and vice. Judge 
Lindsey, of Denver, deserves credit for leadership in 
the practical application of scientific principles to juve- 
nile offenders. The purpose of the Juvenile Courts is to 
separate children from the old and hardened criminals. 
Formerly these youthful offenders were committed to 
prison and trial in courts along with the mature 
criminals. If the jail often makes a criminal of the 
adult first offender, what chance has the child who for 
some petty offense may be put in the "bull pen" with 
those more hardened than himself? His grudge 
against policemen becomes a youthful passion. More 



190 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

offenses follow ; then the reformatory, the workhouse, 
and the penitentiary. 

In Juvenile Courts the children are given sym- 
pathetic and special attention. If a child is found to 
be mentally defective, he is sent to a psychopathic 
institution for study and treatment. Otherwise first 
offenders are not committed to institutions, but after 
kind advice are let out on probation unless their home 
influences are positively noxious or unless their parents 
testify to their incorrigibility. Accordingly, it has been 
necessary to attach a number of probation officers to 
each Juvenile Court. The officers visit the homes of 
the children, tactfully instruct the parents as to the 
treatment of their children, and, in general, supervise 
the reform of wayward children. The city of Cleve- 
land owns a large farm upon which are erected home- 
like cottages, where amidst fresh country surroundings 
youthful offenders may be trained for lives of useful- 
ness. The stigma of the reformatory is here lacking. 
Self-respect, courage, and honesty are developed. By 
twentieth-century methods nine out of every ten ca- 
reers of crime and degradation can be reversed; and, 
at a comparatively small cost, it is possible for the state 
to gain useful citizens in place of robbers and mur- 
derers. 

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 

The whole realm of law is divided into two parts — 
civil law and criminal law. Civil law relates to the 
private relations between members of a community 
and to the legal proceedings employed in settling 
them. It includes the private rights and remedies of 
men as members of the state in contrast to those rights 
and remedies which are public and relate to the govern- 



THE COURTS 191 

ment. Among the various subjects under civil law are : 
law of real property, law of personal property, con- 
tracts, torts or violation of private rights by false im- 
prisonment, trespass, and nuisance; domestic relations 
or law of marriage; inheritance; and law of corpora- 
tions, partnerships, and associations. 

Criminal law relates to crimes and their punishment. 
The state defines certain evil deeds as crimes and at- 
taches penalties thereto. A crime is public wrong — a 
wrong against the state. Although usually a crime is 
an injury to some person, it is considered also as an 
injury to the state, since the government is charged 
with the duty of protecting the lives and property of 
the citizens. The state thus undertakes the prosecution 
of all crimes. A criminal act may also give rise to a 
civil suit. Thus if a person assaults another, he may 
be prosecuted by the state for committing a crime, and 
a civil suit for damages may also be brought against 
him. 

Crimes are divided into two groups. Felonies in- 
clude the graver crimes which are punished by death 
or confinement in a State penitentiary. Among the 
felonies are classed murder, manslaughter, arson, bur- 
glary, robbery, and grand larceny. Lesser crimes are 
called misdemeanors, and are punished usually by fines 
or imprisonment in the city or county jails for short 
terms. Among misdemeanors are bribery, malicious 
libel, assault and battery, petit larceny, and disturbance 
of the peace. 

Civil procedure. — In order to recover some civil 
right or obtain redress for a wrong, a person may bring 
a civil suit in court. In this action he is known as the 
plaintiff and the suit is brought against the defendant. 
The plaintiff files with the court a complaint or declara- 



192 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tion which is served upon the defendant with a sum- 
mons to reply within a certain time. In return the de- 
fendant may either file a demurrer or he may file an 
answer or plea. If he admits the facts but denies that 
the plaintiff has a right of action, he files a demurrer. 
On the other hand, the defendant may deny the facts 
as set forth in the declaration, or he may admit the 
facts but evade their legal effect by setting up new mat- 
ter. In this case he may file an answer or plea. After 
these pleadings before the judge the case is put upon 
the docket of the court, and in due time comes up for 
trial. If it is a case in equity, it is tried by the judge 
without a jury; if it is a suit at law it will be tried with 
a jury unless jury trial is waived by agreement of both 
parties. Testimony is taken by examining the wit- 
nesses orally. The witnesses of each party may be 
cross-examined by the counsel of the opposing party. 
Then the counsels on both sides make their arguments, 
and the judge delivers his charge to the jury, in which 
he instructs them as to the law applicable to the case. 
The jury then retire to decide upon their verdict. 

In actions at law the remedy is usually money dam- 
ages. A judgment for the amount of the damages 
which has been assessed by the jury is entered against 
the defendant. If he does not readily pay this sum, an 
execution or order to the sheriff may be issued. In this 
case the sheriff seizes the defendant's property and 
sells it at auction. If the defendant be a man without 
property, the plaintiff has, of course, no redress. Many 
lawsuits never come to trial. The defendant often has 
no defense, and does not attempt to make one. The 
result is a judgment against him for default of ap- 
pearance. Suits in equity do not result in a judgment 
for money damages, but, rather, in a decree of the 



THE COURTS 193 

court ordering a person to perform or refrain from 
performing a certain act. 

Criminal procedure. — Prosecutions for crime are 
brought by the government. In most States there is 
a high official known as the Attorney-General, and 
each county usually has a county attorney. These of- 
ficers are charged with the duty of prosecuting crimi- 
nals before the courts of the State. Criminal proceed- 
ings usually commence with the arrest of the accused 
person. Upon complaint by an officer or a private 
individual a magistrate may issue a warrant for the de- 
tention of an offender; and sometimes the arrest is 
made by the police without a warrant, especially when 
the criminal is apprehended in the midst of his crime. 

After arrest, the prisoner is brought before the mag- 
istrate; and, unless his crime is of the most grave na- 
ture, he may be released on bail, until his case comes up 
for a hearing. In other words, if he can give reason- 
able assurances that he will appear in court when his 
case is brought on for trial and will submit to any 
punishment imposed, he may be released after filing a 
bond with a money penalty signed by persons of finan- 
cial responsibility. If the offense is petty, the magis- 
trate hears the case without a Grand Jury indictment. 
Otherwise it is necessary that the prosecuting attorney 
for the State, county, or city lay before the Grand 
Jury the evidence in the case. The Grand Jury is a 
body of men, generally twenty-four in number, chosen 
by lot. They are summoned by the court, and their 
sessions are secret. If this body are satisfied that 
there are good grounds for a criminal prosecution they 
indorse the indictment as "A true bill"; if not satis- 
fied, they indorse the bill as "Not a true bill" or with 
the Latin word Ignoramus. 



194 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Some States do not require indictment by a Grand 
Jury in all cases of criminal prosecution; but instead 
of this they permit a process called information. 
This is a hearing before a magistrate wherein the 
prosecuting attorney presents his evidence. If the 
judge deems the evidence sufficient, the accused is 
presented for trial. 

After indictment comes the arraignment. The ac- 
cused is brought before the court and allowed to plead 
guilty or not guilty. If the plea is guilty, the judge 
imposes the penalty forthwith. If the plea is not 
guilty, the accused is held for jury trial. A prisoner is 
permitted, of course, to employ counsel, and if he has 
no means, the court will assign a lawyer to defend him. 
The court appointed a well-known member of the bar to 
appear in behalf of the assassinator of President Mc- 
Kinley in 1901. 

When the day for the trial arrives the accused is 
brought into court. The first step is that of impaneling 
a jury of twelve men. A jury is selected for each 
case; the jurors being chosen by lot from a jury-list 
prepared by the sheriff at the beginning of each term 
of court. The business of impaneling the jury is a 
long process, especially if the case is a sensational or 
bitterly contested affair. The prosecuting attorney and 
the counsel for the defendant in turn examine the 
jurors as they are summoned, and they have the right 
to challenge any juror as prejudiced or as unlikely to 
render a fair verdict in the case. The judge deter- 
mines the validity of the objections opposed to jurors, 
although each side is generally allowed a certain num- 
ber of peremptory challenges. When twelve persons 
are secured against whom no valid objection or other 
charge can be made they are sworn to render a fair 



THE COURTS 



195 



and impartial verdict and they become the jury for the 
trial. 

The function of the jury is to hear and determine 
the value of the evidence which the trial judge permits 
to be presented. In deciding what evidence may be 
offered and considered the judge applies rules of evi- 
dence which are definitely formulated in the law ; and 
the jury may consider only the evidence which is sub- 
mitted to them. In other words, the judge determines 
the law and the jury determines the fact. The ma- 
jority of suits at law depend upon the credibility of 
evidence submitted by the contending parties. After 
the evidence has been offered and the arguments of 
the counsels have been heard, the judge instructs the 
jury with regard to the law ; and he may in a few States 
even comment upon the evidence and intimate his 
opinion as to the weight which should or should not 
be given to any particular testimony. In all other States 
the statutes prohibit the judge from commenting on 
the credibility of the witnesses or the weight of the 
evidence. In all States, however, the presiding judge 
actually exerts a certain influence over the jury; and 
this is well, for without the guidance of an intelligent 
judge, juries would more frequently commit great 
travesties on justice. 

After being instructed by the judge the jury retires 
to consider the evidence of the case in secret, and in 
most cases it must agree unanimously upon a verdict 
in favor of one party or the other. If the jury cannot 
agree unanimously after long and tedious sessions, it 
is discharged and a new trial is ordered. In some 
States, women as well as men may serve on juries. 

All State constitutions contain the usual prohibitions 
on "cruel and unusual punishments." The days of 



196 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tongue-piercing, ear-splitting, branding with irons and 
pillorying in the market place are passed. No judge 
can order such punishments to-day. The statutes of 
Delaware still permit the courts to order a public whip- 
ping, but the usual punishments are fines and impris- 
onment for periods extending from one hour to a life 
term. As a rule, sentences of imprisonment are re- 
duced by one fifth for good conduct in prison; and 
many prisoners are paroled or pardoned years before 
their sentences expire. In thirty-six States the death 
penalty is inflicted for murder in the first degree. 
The execution of this punishment is carried out in a 
quick and scientific manner. It is not a "cruel and 
unusual punishment." 

Complaints against the jury system. — At present 
there are many complaints made against the jury sys- 
tem, and no doubt this institution, notwithstanding its 
beneficial character, contributes to the vexatious delays 
of our courts. Jury service is disagreeable and tedious, 
and business men almost universally seek to avoid it. 
Certain classes, including attorneys, physicians, pub- 
lic officers, and teachers, are exempt. The impaneling 
of juries devours the time of the courts and obstructs 
the administration of justice, and in many kinds of 
cases, especially those involving liquor-selling and 
strikes, it is difficult to secure twelve men who will 
unite in a verdict of guilty. The proposal for having 
professional jurymen is dangerous, and no State has 
adopted it. Eighteen States have permitted a less than 
unanimous verdict in civil cases; in some States nine 
jurors out of the twelve may render a verdict; in Ne- 
vada eight are sufficient. In all States a unanimous 
verdict is required in capital cases. In trials for mis- 
demeanors several States permit a two-thirds verdict. 



THE COURTS 197 

A few States provide for a jury of less than twelve 
(usually six) in certain civil and criminal cases. 

REFORM IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 

Among no people is the love of justice and the ha- 
tred of wrong more highly developed than in the 
United States. The American ideal demands equal 
justice for rich and poor alike. The founders of the 
republic cherished the words of Magna Charta that 
right and justice shall be sold to no man, and never 
denied or delayed. Although the American ideal as 
to right and justice has been irreproachable, yet the 
practical application of this ideal to civil litigation in 
the petty courts and to the prosecution of criminals 
has failed to advance with the age. In 1906 Dean 
Roscoe Pound addressed the American Bar Associa- 
tion upon the causes of popular dissatisfaction with the 
administration of justice. He pointed out that the 
expense and technicalities of petty litigation in our 
great cities was a grave injustice to the poor and a 
danger to the nation. Americans have been so occu- 
pied with the huge problems of our material develop- 
ment that we have failed to take note of our lack of 
progress in the small matters of law. There is a lurk- 
ing danger in this condition, for failure to obtain jus- 
tice produces contempt, hatred, desperation, and other 
malignant feelings which may incite violence and 
revolution. 

A story related by Mr. R. H. Smith in his Justice 
and the Poor will illustrate this fact. Theodore Roose- 
velt when police commissioner of New York City one 
day stepped into the offices of the Legal Aid Society 
to observe their methods. A glazier was relating to 
an official of the society how he had set twenty-two 



198 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

panes of glass for the owner of a barn and the owner 
had then refused to give him the $6.60 which had been 
promised. He had been out of work and needed money 
for his family's supper. On his way home to the East 
Side he had crossed Fifth Avenue at Forty-fourth 
Street and had glanced at the luxurious restaurants. 
His own children went to bed supperless. The next 
morning he consulted a lawyer, who told him that to 
bring suit would cost him ten dollars. Of course he 
could not pay this. He then sought out a judge of 
the municipal court, who was compelled to advise him 
that since he had no money to prosecute his suit he had 
better drop it. As the man sat in the office of the 
Legal Aid Society telling his story he was an incipient 
anarchist. 

In some cities, notably New York, Chicago, Cleve- 
land, Portland (Oregon), Topeka, Leavenworth, and 
Kansas City, much has been accomplished to improve 
the administration of justice among the poor. But 
this reform even in these cities has not yet proceeded 
as far as it should. 

The poor man is not the only person who suffers 
from the complexity of the American legal system. All 
honest business men are seriously handicapped by it. 
The grievance was tersely expressed by Mr. Root in 
the debates of the New York Constitutional Conven- 
tion in 1915. 

I heard the other day a lawyer in New York 
boast that he could postpone any litigation for 
seven years, and I asked a lot of friends as I 
came along whether that was true, and they all 
said they did not doubt it. How? Why, by 
compelling the honest fellow that comes into 
court to redress a wrong or to secure a right, 



THE COURTS 199 

to litigate one after the other these statutory- 
rights that have been created by the legislature. 
Courts cannot ignore them because they are 
rights given by law. The courts must observe 
the law, and so the plain man who wants to get 
a wrong redressed has, bristling between his 
demand for redress and his judgment, a dozen 
litigations that he has to fight out before he can 
get to the end of his cause. 

My friends of the bar, we have been making 
our system of procedure here conform to the 
subtle, acute, highly trained ideas of lawyers. 
That is not the true basis. The system of pro- 
cedure, of course, cannot be simple, but as far 
as possible, it ought to be made to conform to 
the plain man's intelligence and experience. It 
ought to be so that the farmer and the merchant 
and the laborer can understand it, and know 
why he is delayed in getting his rights ; can un- 
derstand that the processes to which he is sub- 
ject have a reason and know what the reason is, 
otherwise you cannot have that respect for the 
law, that confidence in its justice necessary for 
the maintenance of a system of just adminis- 
tration. And furthermore the existence of 
this great variety of minute, detailed statutory 
provisions has been breeding up a great number 
of code lawyers, and by that I mean lawyers 
whose principal concern is with the statutory 
code of rights and not with getting justice for 
their clients. Now, we ought to get back to the 
fundamental idea of our profession which is the 
administration of justice. 1 

This caustic criticism by Mr. Root is leveled, of 



Robert Bacon and J. B. Scott, Addresses on Government and Citizenship by 
Elihu Root (Harvard University Press), p. 179. 



200 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

course, at the confusion and multiplicity of laws passed 
by the State legislatures, which by their own unwieldy 
weight block the path of justice in the courts. In 1916 
a remarkable proposal in the matter of legal reform 
was made by Dean Wigmore of the Law School of 
Northwestern University. After, calling attention to 
a vexatious case in the Illinois courts involving dam- 
ages claimed by the widow of a man killed by a fallen 
electric wire, which case required five different trials 
and consumed nine years of litigation, Dean Wigmore 
suggested that the State should provide for an officer 
to be known as the Chief Judicial Superintendent, who 
should have "the power and the duty to inquire into 
each and every sort of botch-product of our justice- 
system, and to take measures to improve it against the 
recurrences of such failures." 1 

Reform of criminal procedure. — Our criminal 
procedure in particular, needs reform. The laxity 
which exists in our large cities in regard to prosecut- 
ing professional criminals has become scandalous. 
After reading the morning papers the citizens of 
Chicago and other large cities must feel that they live 
in the days of Caesar Borgia, when men were stabbed 
in the streets of Rome and poisoned at banquets with 
the utmost impunity. Whoever follows the news- 
papers for a number of years will discover that the 
same individuals are apprehended and arrested for 
crimes year after year, and yet they are allowed their 
freedom as any peaceful citizen. Have our courts 
failed to function? Are there not laws against mur- 
der, robbery, and assault? In commenting on these 
delays in justice President Taft stated to Congress in 

1 Wanted, A Chief Judicial Superintendent in Illinois Law Review (1916), XI, pp. 
45-49; also in Journal of the American Judicature Society (1917), I, pp. 7-9. 



THE COURTS 201 

1909: "The expedition with which business is dis- 
posed of both on the civil and the criminal side of 
English courts under modern rules of procedure makes 
the delays in our courts seem archaic and barbarous. 
... I do not doubt for one moment that much of the 
lawless violence and cruelty exhibited in lynching is 
directly due to uncertainties and injustice growing out 
of these delays in trials, judgments, and the executions 
thereof by our courts." 

The conditions existing in Chicago up to 1920 were 
typical of the administration of justice in many other 
large cities. It will not be necessary here to explain 
the multiplicity of courts with seventy judges existing 
in Cook County. The plain facts can be briefly told. 
Chicago has a population of over 10,000 professional 
criminals. In 19 15 Mr. Merriam's committee to in- 
vestigate crime reported : "Many professional crimi- 
nals escape the penalty of the law and prey at will on 
society. . . . Professional criminals have built up a 
system which may be called a 'crime trust' with roots 
running through the police force, the bar, the bonds- 
men, the prosecutor's office, and political officials." 

The chief defects in criminal procedure in Chicago 
courts, as stated by Dr. Robert H. Gault, editor of the 
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, are as fol- 
lows: (1) The municipal and county judges are 
elected by the people and some of them are deeply in- 
volved in machine politics. County Court judges hold 
office four years; Superior Court, Circuit Court, and 
Municipal Court judges hold office for six years. (2) 
The same judges are assigned to both criminal and 
civil cases, and, as a rule, judges tend to neglect crimi- 
nal cases in order to devote their time to the more 
interesting legal phases of equity suits. There should 



202 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

be a permanent division between criminal and civil 
assignments; in other words, judges should sit regu- 
larly in separate courts, one side for criminal cases 
and the other for civil cases. Only in this way may 
judges become acquainted with the professional crimi- 
nals who appear in court year after year and who 
escape justice by tricks and devices which could hardly 
be played more than once by the same person on the 
same honest judge. (3) Certain judges who are 
mixed up in politics are remarkably careless in the 
matter of releasing hardened criminals on bail. Bonds 
are furnished by professional bailsmen, "straw-men," 
who are careful to see that the property described in 
the bond is sold before the case comes up in court and 
the offender fails to appear. (4) Again, certain 
judges allow continuances of cases whereby offenders 
secure a delay of years before their cases are tried, 
and by the time that their cases come to trial the crime 
is forgotten and the witnesses dispersed. (5) Fre- 
quently offenders are put on probation and permitted 
to return to their haunts and commit depredations, 
only to be arrested again for serious offenses, and put 
on probation a second time or even a third time. (6) 
Before the reform of the system of pardons and pa- 
roles in Illinois under Governor Lowden, the abuse 
of the pardoning power in freeing notorious criminals 
was a disgrace to the State. 

Finally, in the words of Dr. Gault, "Our methods 
of handling the mentally defective and the insane, 
whether they are defendants in the criminal courts 
or already under commitment to a penal institution, 
are extremely inadequate. Many who belong to these 
classes repeatedly commit minor offenses and as often 
they are confined for short terms in houses of correc- 



THE COURTS 203 

tion. It frequently happens persons are found who 
have served as many as a dozen terms in such insti- 
tutions. Less frequently they repeatedly commit ma- 
jor offenses. In many instances they are able to put 
up such a front as to create a favorable impression 
upon the lay jury or commission to which they are 
entitled when a hearing is had with a view to commit- 
ment to an institution for the care of mental cases. 
The result is that the community continues to bear the 
burden not only of their maintenance but of their 
crimes and, in general, of the moral contamination 
that flows from them. The condition can be in large 
measure corrected by developing the practice of com- 
mitting such persons — once the question of mental 
health has been raised — to a suitable hospital for men- 
tal cases for a limited period, say six months, for 
observation. Automatically, at the conclusion of the 
period, the defendant comes again for a hearing to 
determine the question of commitment to a hospital 
or asylum for an indefinite period until cured. In such 
cases neither laymen nor professional men will be 
likely to find contrary to the report of the hospital 
staff that has made the observation. Such procedure 
would relieve the courts and public from the spectacu- 
lar and wasteful differences between opposing experts 
in the courts in cases in which insanity is alleged. It 
would bring science to the aid of justice." 

The laxity of the State and municipal government 
in preventing and punishing crime has led the business 
men of Chicago to use private means for the purpose 
of urging reluctant officials to apprehend and convict 
criminals. In 1919 the Association of Commerce or- 
ganized the Chicago Crime Commission. The aim of 
this organization is to collect information concerning 



204 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

actual violations of law, to compel the proper officials 
to prosecute on the basis of this information, and to 
bring political pressure to bear upon officials who refuse 
to act. It is significant that in 1920 the Superintendent 
of Police in Chicago was forced to resign. This is 
about as far as private enterprise can go in reform 
measures. Enlightened jurists are convinced that 
what is now needed is a permanent criminal bench; 
and the judges should be appointed for life by the 
Governor of the State. In New York City the city 
magistrates having power to try petty criminal offenses 
and hold prisoners for trial are appointed by the Mayor 
for a term of ten years. It would be better to have 
them appointed by the Governor. The majority of the 
municipal judges are learned, honest, fearless, and 
upright men. But one or two corrupt judges in a 
municipal court are sufficient to provide an open gate- 
way to freedom for criminals who have political in- 
fluence. 

The selection and removal of judges. — The 
founders of the American republic were zealous for the 
independence of the judiciary; and the federal con- 
stitution together with the State constitutions pro- 
vided for the selection of judges by appointment. In 
the middle of the nineteenth century, however, many 
States changed their constitutions and adopted the 
elective system. There are now three methods of se- 
lecting judges. (1) In thirty-eight States the judges 
of the highest courts are elected by the people. And 
in all of these States, except one, the trial judges are 
also elected. In Florida the trial judges are appointed 
by the Governor although the judges of the Supreme 
Court are elected. (2) In five States, Rhode Island, 
Virginia, South Carolina, Vermont, and Connecticut, 



THE COURTS 205 

the judges are elected by the legislature. (3) In five 
States, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Dela- 
ware, and New Jersey, the highest judges are appointed 
by the Governor. 

The tenure of office of the judiciary varies in the 
different States. In general, the judges of the high 
courts have long terms and the trial judges, in the 
lower courts, shorter terms. In Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, and Rhode Island the judges hold office 
for life. In Pennsylvania the term of the highest 
judges is twenty-one years; in New York, fourteen; 
in seventeen States it is only six years. 

In all States, judges may be removed by impeach- 
ment, or else by the Governor upon address by the 
legislature. Six States permit the recall of a judge by 
a popular vote. These States are Oregon, California, 
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Kansas. Colorado, 
in 1912, also adopted the recall of judicial decisions. 
Although ten States permit the recall of public officers, 
four States specifically exempt judges from this pro- 
vision, namely, Idaho, Washington, Michigan, and 
Louisiana. 

Much has been said in recent years for and against 
the popular election and dismissal of judges. It is 
true that appointment of judges and long tenure of 
office may in some cases tend toward arbitrariness and 
ill-treatment of lawyers and litigants by the judges on 
the bench. But, on the other hand, as Chief Justice 
Taft has pointed out, a comparison between the work 
of the appointed judges and the elected judges shows 
that appointment secures in the long run a higher aver- 
age of experts for the bench. We have had many able 
judges by popular election, but this is not always the 
case, and elective judgeships are frequently the pawns 



206 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of politicians. Judges who are appointed and enjoy 
long tenure of office tend to be more impartial and 
efficient, for they are not burdened with the necessity 
of seeking reelection, and they have opportunity to 
master their judicial duties and to gain experience. 
Learning, experience, character, and moral courage 
are indispensable for an independent judiciary. Mr. 
Taft has well said : "It is the judges who are not 
grounded in the science of the law, and who have not 
the broad statesmanlike view that comes from its 
wide study, that are staggered by narrow precedent 
and frightened by technical difficulty. The decisions 
of courts criticized for a failure to respond to that 
progress in settled public opinion which should affect 
the limitations upon the police power, or the meaning 
of due process of law, have generally been rendered 
by elected courts. Paradox as it may seem, the ap- 
pointed judges are more discriminatingly responsive 
to the needs of a community and to its settled views 
than judges chosen directly by the electorate, and this 
because the Executive is better qualified to select 
greater experts/' 1 

In conclusion, it should be observed that the Amer- 
ican people in the past have been profoundly devoted 
to the reign of law, and they have always invested the 
judicial office with a special dignity. For years the 
people of Cook County tolerated the Thompson-Lundin 
machine, but when that organization attempted in 
1 92 1 to gain complete control of the local courts the 
voters were at last aroused to exert themselves and 
defeat the machine. There is a deep feeling among 
the American people that the courts are the bulwark of 



Popular Government (Yale University Press) , p. 192. 



THE COURTS 207 

individual liberty and they resent any partisan attacks 
made upon this institution or any efforts to control it. 

For Further Reading 

Independence of the Judiciary. — S. E. Baldwin, 
American Judiciary, ch. i-iii; Everett Kimball, National 
Government of the United States, pp. 379-383; Wood- 
row Wilson, Constitutional Government in the United 
States, ch. vi. 

Organization and Jurisdiction of the Federal 
Judiciary. — Emlin McClain, Constitutional Law in the 
United States, ch. xxv-xxvi; Everett Kimball, National 
Government of the United States, ch. xv; C. A. Beard, 
American Government and Politics, ch. xv; W. B. 
Munro, Government of the United States, ch. xxiv-xxv; 
W. W. Dewhurst, Annotated Rules of Practice in the 
United States Courts (1919), pp. 763-827; Register of 
the Department of Justice and the Courts of the United 
States (contains maps of the federal judicial circuits). 

The Organization of the State Courts. — S. E. 
Baldwin, American Judiciary, ch. viii; Illinois Consti- 
tutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 740-754. 

Juvenile Courts. — H. H. Hart, Juvenile Courts in 
the United States (Russell Sage Foundation) ; G. B. 
Mangold, Child Problems, pp. 221-345 ; T. D. Eliot, The 
Juvenile Court and the Community, ch. i; Annual Re- 
port of the Children's Court of the City of New York, 
1916, pp. 8-44; Juvenile Court of Cook County, Illinois 
(Chicago: 1912), pp. 9-58. 

Court of Domestic Relations. — W. W. Gemmill, 
Chicago Court of Domestic Relations in Annals of the 
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 
March, 1914, pp. 11 5-123; J. C. Colcord, Broken Homes, 
ch. vi-vii; E. E. Eubank, A Study of Family Desertion, 
ch. vi. 

Civil and Criminal Procedure. — C. A. Beard, 



208 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

American Government and Politics, pp. S57~S77 \ Timothy 
Walker, Introduction to American Law, ch. xxxvii ; 
S. E. Baldwin, American Judiciary, ch. xiii-xvii; H. F. 
Stone, Law and its Administration, ch. v; W. L. Clark, 
Handbook of Criminal Law; W. L. Clark, Handbook of 
Criminal Procedure; James Gould, Treatise on the Prin- 
ciples of Pleading in Civil Actions; Joseph Story, Com- 
mentaries on Equity Pleadings; Art. on "Pleas at Law" 
and "Pleas in Equity" in McKinney's Encyclopedia of 
Pleading and Practice; Art. on "Equity" in Corpus Juris; 
Art. on "Criminal Law" in American and English Cyclo- 
pedia of Law. 

Defects of the Jury System. — S. E. Baldwin, Amer- 
ican Judiciary, pp. 189-196, 239-243 ; Maurice Parmelee, 
Criminology, ch. xx; Arthur Train, The Prisoner at the 
Bar, ch. xi. 

Popular Election or Appointment of Judges. — 
W. H. Taft, Popular Government, pp. 186-215; W. S. 
Carpenter, Judicial Tenure in the United States, ch. iv, v ; 
A. M. Kales, Methods of Selecting and Retiring Judges 
in a Metropolitan District in Annals of American Acad- 
emy of Political and Social Science (1914), LII, pp. 1-12; 
Bulletins for Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 
1917, no. xvi. 

Reform in American Legal Procedure. — J. W. 
Works, Juridical Reform, ch. i-xv ; R. H. Smith, Justice 
and the Poor (Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- 
ment of Teaching) ; Moorfield Story, Reform of Legal 
Procedure, ch. i-v ; Maurice Parmelee, Principles of An- 
thropology and Sociology in their Relations to Criminal 
Procedure, ch. xii ; C. R. Henderson, Preventative 
Agencies and Methods, pp. 261-315; Eugene Smith, 
Criminal Law in the United States, pp. 94-113; Report 
of the City Council Committee on Crime of the City of 
Chicago; pp. 9-16; Edwin W. Sims, Fighting Crime in 
Chicago in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 
May, 1920, pp. 8-20 ; Bulletin of the Chicago Crime Com- 



THE COURTS 209 

mission (179 West Washington Street), no. xi; Model 
Short Procedural Act in Journal of the American Judi- 
cature Society (1920), IV, pp. 104-110; Conciliation and 
Informal Procedure (American Judicature Society, 31 
W. Lake Street, Chicago), Bulletin no. xv; Roscoe 
Pound, Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Ad- 
ministration of Justice in Reports of American Bar As- 
sociation (1906), XXIX, pt. i, pp. 395-417; J. H. Wig- 
more, Shall the Legal Profession be Reorganized? in 
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, January, 
1914, pp. 461-463 ; Reform in the Administration of Jus- 
tice in Annals of .American Academy of Political and 
Social Science (1914), LII, pp. 1-223. 



CHAPTER X 

THE STATE GOVERNMENTS: GOVERNOR 
AND LEGISLATURE 

The average American citizen comes in contact with 
his State government far more frequently than with 
the national government. As Lord Bryce has wittily 
remarked: "An American may, through a long life, 
never be reminded of the federal government, except 
when he votes at presidential and congressional elec- 
tions, buys a package of tobacco bearing the govern- 
ment stamp, lodges a complaint against the post office, 
and opens his trunks for a customhouse officer on the 
pier at New York when he returns from a tour in 
Europe. His direct taxes are paid to officials acting 
under State laws. The State, or a local authority con- 
stituted by State statutes, registers his birth, appoints 
his guardian, pays for his schooling, gives him a share 
in the estate of his father deceased, licenses him when 
he enters a trade (if it be one needing a license), mar- 
ries him, divorces him, entertains civil actions against 
him, fines him for overspeeding his automobile, de- 
clares him a bankrupt, hangs him for murder. The 
police that guard his house, the local boards that look 
after the poor, control highways, impose water rates, 
manage schools— all these derive their legal powers 
from his State alone/' 1 While this is too strong a 
statement of the situation, nevertheless it comes near 
the truth. Notwithstanding the increased supervision 
of the federal government the supervising activities of 

American Commonwealth (Macmillan), I, p. 425. 

2IO 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 211 

the States have not decreased; in fact, they have been 
greatly augmented. The regulation of business, public 
morals, and general welfare within the States requires 
more attention every year. Moreover, the vast scope of 
law concerning the relations of persons to each other is 
within the domain of the States. Laws dealing with 
inheritance, corporations, bills and notes, etc., are 
within the jurisdiction of the States, as well as criminal 
procedure and the laws for protecting the property 
of the citizens from violence. At the same time the 
administrative work of the local governments is exten- 
sive and vital, including education, promotion of public 
health and morals, control of streets and highways, 
and the care of public buildings and roads. 

THE STATE GOVERNOR 

Like the federal government, the State governments 
are constructed according to the Theory of Checks and 
Balances which the framers of the federal constitution 
so greatly admired. The Governor is at the head of 
the executive department, the State legislature is the 
lawmaking body, and the State courts comprise the 
judicial department. Theoretically a strict separation 
of powers exists, but it will be convenient to discuss 
in this chapter both the Governor and the State legisla- 
ture in order to indicate the methods used at the present 
time to secure cooperation between these two depart- 
ments. 

Powers of the Governor. — In many respects the 
powers of the Governor correspond to the powers of 
the President of the United States, although they are 
not so numerous or complete. At the time of the 
American Revolutionary War, when most of the orig- 
inal States adopted their first constitutions, there was 



212 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

a profound distrust of the office of Governor, due, of 
course, to the late conflicts with the royal governors in 
the colonies. Accordingly, the early State constitu- 
tions greatly restricted the powers of the Governor, 
while granting large powers to the legislature. In the 
nineteenth century, however, the people began to dis- 
trust the legislatures, and as a result the State consti- 
tutions were amended from time to time giving more 
powers to the Governors and placing greater limitations 
upon the legislature. 

(i) Executive powers. — The Governor possesses 
the usual executive powers of appointment of certain 
officers and boards. In some States the number of 
officials whose appointment rests with the Governor is 
large; but in all States certain executive officers, like 
the Secretary of State and the Treasurer, are elected. 
The Governor has also the power of removal of cer- 
tain officials. And, like the President, he has the power 
of pardoning convicted offenders against State law. 
In some States the Governor has been partly relieved 
of the burden of this embarrassing power by the crea- 
tion of a Board of Pardons which acts in his name. 

(2) Legislative powers. — Like the President, the 
Governor has certain legislative powers. He convenes 
the legislature in extra session if necessary, he sends 
written messages to the legislature concerning the wel- 
fare of the commonwealth and recommending the en- 
actment of laws, and in all States save one, he has the 
veto power, although the legislature may pass a bill 
over his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. 

(3) General oversight of State administration. — 
The Governor, as the head of the executive depart- 
ment of government, has a general oversight of State 
administration. The various State officers, boards, and 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 213 

commissions are usually in some degree under his 
supervision ; but in only a few States does the Governor 
have the broad powers of control enjoyed by the Presi- 
dent, while in no State does he have a Cabinet. 

(4) Military powers. — The Governor is comman- 
der-in-chief of the military forces of the State. He 
may call out the militia to repress mob violence or other 
disturbance ; and, when the legislature is not in session, 
he may request military aid from the federal govern- 
ment; otherwise such a request must come from the 
State legislature. As commander-in-chief of the State 
troops the Governor has power to declare martial law. 

(5) Relations with the federal government and other 
State governments. — The Governor is the medium of 
communication between the government of his State 
and the governments of other States in the Union. An 
occasion for such communication may arise when a 
fugitive from justice escapes into another State. In 
this case a request for the extradition of the alleged 
criminal is made by the Governor of the State where 
the crime was committed. 

Governors sometimes act as the agents of the federal 
government. During the Civil War Lincoln called 
upon the Governors for aid in organizing the Union 
army, and in the World War the United States War 
Department relied upon the advice of the Governors 
in appointing draft boards. In times of peace the 
Governors may cooperate in carrying out national poli- 
cies, as in 1908, when President Roosevelt called a 
meeting of the Governors at the White House to advise 
with him upon the problem of conservation of the 
national resources. Since this date, the State execu- 
tives have met annually in the Conference of Governors 
held at various State capitals. 



214 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

(6) Social and ceremonial duties. — Finally, we 
should not forget the many social and ceremonial func- 
tions which demand the attention of the Governor. 
Although these duties may seem to the student of 
American government to be a rather secondary mat- 
ter, yet in real life they loom very large, and the people 
are disappointed if a Governor persistently refuses to 
grace important occasions with a public speech. A 
great-hearted Governor, in a few well-chosen words of 
praise and appreciation, may encourage the weary offi- 
cial, the tired teacher, or the public-spirited citizen to 
make greater efforts for the common good. 

State administration. — Besides the Governor, 
there are a large number of other executive officers. 
These officials may be classified in two groups: first, 
the original officers established by the early State con- 
stitutions, and, second, the numerous boards and com- 
missions which have been more recently created for 
the purpose of meeting the new economic and social 
conditions of the age. The officials of the first class 
are generally elected by the people. Those of the sec- 
ond class are generally appointed by the Governor. 
The chief elected officials are: (i) the Governor; 
(2) the Lieutenant-Governor, who takes the place of 
the Governor if incapacitated; (3) the Secretary of 
State, who keeps the public records and usually has 
certain functions to perform in regard to State elec- 
tions such as receiving the petitions from candidates 
in the primaries, furnishing ballots and tally-sheets to 
the boards of election, canvassing the returns of the 
election and issuing certificates of election to the suc- 
cessful candidates; (4) the Attorney-General, who 
gives legal advice to the Governor and other State 
officials; (5) the Treasurer, who keeps the public 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 215 

money and pays it out only on warrant from the proper 
officials; (6) the Auditor or Comptroller, who audits 
or examines all accounts, and issues warrants on the 
Treasurer for the payment of public money; and (7) 
the Superintendent of Public Education, who has 
supervision of the public schools in the State. 

The second class of executive officers are the mem- 
bers of boards and commissions, such as the State 
Boards 'of Health and the Railway Commissions. 
These boards are recent creations, most of them hav- 
ing been established within the last half century, or 
since the time when the States began to regulate more 
thoroughly the economic and social life of their 
citizens. 

THE STATE LEGISLATURES 

Like Congress, the State legislature is the lawmak- 
ing department of government. It passes the laws for 
maintaining the public health, for regulating the rail- 
ways or building State roads, and it has authority to 
create various boards and commissions to enforce these 
laws. The State legislature has power to provide for 
education and vocational training of children, although 
in most States the administration of public education 
is left largely in the hands of local authorities. The 
legislature levies taxes for the support of the State 
government and it alone has power to authorize appro- 
priations from the State treasury. It is also the func- 
tion of the legislature to prescribe the procedure for 
prosecuting criminals and for enforcing private rights 
in the courts. The law of contracts, torts, bills and 
notes, personal and real property, agency, marriage and 
divorce, insurance, trusts, partnerships and corpora- 
tions is within the domain of State legislation. Many 



216 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

States have enacted codes or compilations of laws upon 
these subjects. 

It is unnecessary to describe in detail the organiza- 
tion of the State legislatures, for it is much the same 
as that of Congress. In many States the legislature is' 
called the General Assembly, and in every State the 
legislature has two chambers, composed of elected 
members. The upper house (usually called the Sen- 
ate) is the smaller of the two houses. In Delaware it 
consists of only 17 members, and in Minnesota of 67 
members. The lower chamber, which is called the 
House of Representatives, contains in Delaware and 
Arizona 35 members, in New York 150, in Illinois 153, 
in Georgia 189, in Pennsylvania 207, and in New 
Hampshire, as many as 404 members! The rules of 
order, the procedure for the introduction and passing 
of bills, the committee system, and committee hearings 
are much like the same proceedings in the national Con- 
gress. Most of the State legislatures meet every two 
years. Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New 
York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina have annual 
sessions. Alabama has a quadrennial session. 

Criticism of our State legislatures. — The State 
legislatures have not in late years performed their 
functions as efficiently as in the early days of our re- 
public. The character of the legislation passed to-day 
cannot compare with the excellent quality of the laws 
passed by State legislatures a hundred years ago. This 
deterioration in our State laws is due partly to defects 
in the organization of the legislature, partly to the 
inordinate size of the legislature, and partly to the lack 
of technical knowledge by the individual legislators. 
One of the most prominent critics of our legislative 
system, Governor George H. Hodges, of Kansas, has 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 217 

pointed out that our statute books are encumbered 
with thousands of badly drawn, practically useless, and 
often harmful acts which have been hastily passed by 
careless legislatures. 1 Laws should be carefully 
drafted. The language should be in legal style; the 
subject matter should be an accurate reflection of public 
morals; and the enactment must, in any event, be in 
accord with the provisions of the federal and State 
constitutions. It is not every novice that can draw up 
such a document. Experienced members themselves 
sometimes make mistakes. In 1901 Wisconsin estab- 
lished a Legislative Reference Bureau to serve the 
members of the legislature by collecting information 
and comparing laws of different States, and by draft- 
ing bills upon any subject at the request of members. 
This work is done by experts who know their fields. 
Obviously, it has been of great service to the law- 
makers of Wisconsin; and a majority of the other 
States have created similar organizations. The estab- 
lishment of legislative reference bureaus has tended 
to improve the quality of the laws passed by the State 
legislatures, but it has by no means prevented the enact- 
ment of thousands of ill-considered laws on a great 
variety of subjects. 

There is altogether too much legislation in the States. 
In 191 1 the Session Laws of California filled a book of 
2,000 printed pages; and the laws of Massachusetts, 
1,100 pages. The legislature of Massachusetts enacts 
each year more laws for its four million people than 
the British Parliament enacts for its forty-nine million 
people. The compact character of British legislation 
is partly due to able executive guidance in the law- 
making process and partly due to Parliament's refraint 

^-Proceedings of the Conference of Governors in 1913. 



218 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

from burdening the laws with administrative details 
which had better be left to the discretion of the execu- 
tive officers. In America the members of our State 
legislatures, without the guiding hand of experienced 
executives, have found themselves beset by clamoring 
public opinion to enact social and economic reforms, 
some of these behests being practical and necessary, 
some Utopian; at the same time all sorts of promoters 
are asking for privileges in return for alleged bene- 
fits given to the State; and these demands are thun- 
dered at the members in the press or urged upon them 
by professional lobbyists who are hired by associa- 
tions, corporations, or persons desiring to get bills 
through the assembly. The path of the lawmaker is 
thus not an easy one. Local interests besiege him 
incessantly. The assemblyman who is sent to the leg- 
islature from some crossroads village for the purpose 
of securing the construction of a bridge over an ad- 
jacent river to be built at State expense, meets the 
representative of another district whose constituents 
are interested in obtaining a franchise for an electric 
railway, and thus the vote on the franchise is ex- 
changed for the vote on the bridge. Each assembly- 
man helps to roll the other man's log. And when the 
Governor intervenes and attempts to interfere with 
this log-rolling process, he becomes the object of indig- 
nant attack as an encroacher upon the constitutional 
prerogatives of the legislature. 

The initiative and referendum. — Popular dis- 
trust of State legislatures has led to the introduction 
of the initiative and referendum. These devices were 
adopted in South Dakota in 1898 and in Oregon in 
1902, and since then in eighteen other States. The 
initiative is a means of popular proposal of legislation. 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 219 

There are two kinds— the direct initiative and the indi- 
rect initiative. Under the direct initiative, a measure 
can be proposed by popular petition and then goes 
directly to the people as a result of such proposal. Ten 
States have adopted this method. The process is as 
follows : Any citizen, association, or society may draft 
a bill for enacting some measure which is desired as 
law. A petition is then circulated among the voters 
for their signature. In Oregon, if eight per cent of 
the electors sign the petition, a State-wide election is 
held upon the proposed bill; and if a majority of the 
votes at the polls is cast for the bill, it is automatically 
enacted into law. 

Nine States have adopted the indirect initiative 
whereby a bill proposed by petition is considered by the 
State legislature before being submitted to the people. 
In Michigan, for example, the petition in favor of a 
bill requires the signatures of eight per cent of the 
voters. After these signatures are obtained the bill 
must be submitted to the legislature, which may act 
upon the bill in three ways : ( 1 ) accept the proposed 
bill without change, (2) reject the bill, or (3) recom- 
mend a substitute bill to the people. In the first case, 
the proposed bill is enacted into law without more ado. 
In the second or third case, the people are called upon 
to express their decision at the polls. Any bill initiated 
by petition must, like all statutory enactments, be in 
accord with the constitution. Fourteen States permit 
the use of the initiative for the proposal of constitu- 
tional amendments by the people. 

The referendum is a means of obtaining a popular 
veto upon measures passed by the legislature. It has 
been used for a century and half to ratify constitu- 
tional amendments proposed by conventions or legis- 



220 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

latures, but the application of the referendum to statu- 
tory law is more recent. In Oregon any bill passed by 
the legislature is referred to the people if a petition 
signed by five per cent of the voters is filed with the 
Secretary of State within ninety days after the ad- 
journment of the session of the legislature which 
passed the measure. Furthermore, the legislature it- 
self may order a referendum. In either case the popu- 
lar vote is taken at the next ensuing general election. 
In some States having the referendum an emergency 
bill enacted by the legislature goes into effect at once, 
even if a petition for a referendum is filed, while an 
adverse vote given later at the polls acts as a repeal of 
the measure. This provision is deemed necessary to 
prevent a small percentage of voters from delaying the 
operation of some urgent measure enacted for the im- 
mediate preservation of the public peace, health, or 
safety. The Governor may not veto any measure ap- 
proved by the people in either the initiative or the 
referendum. 

Are the initiative and referendum satisfactory? — 
It has been claimed by the advocates of the initiative 
and the referendum that these devices promote popular 
government, enabling the people to override obstreper- 
ous legislatures by taking into their own hands from 
time to time the lawmaking process. By means of the 
referendum the people may veto any legislation that 
they dislike while by means of the initiative they may 
enact legislation that they desire. As a result, it is 
claimed, that under the referendum the most pernicious 
forms of lobbying will tend to disappear because the 
people would be in a position to block the special favors 
obtained by unworthy methods from legislative bodies. 
At the same time both the initiative and the referendum 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 221 

are a means of popular education along political lines. 
In Oregon, pamphlets are printed by the State when- 
ever the initiative or the referendum is used for the 
purpose of giving the arguments, both for and against 
the proposed bills, and it is expected that the people will 
study such dissertations before casting their votes. And 
since the people must understand the laws referred to 
them, there is an incentive to make the laws simple and 
direct, which reform is greatly to be desired. 

Professor Ray contends that in at least one respect 
the initiative and referendum tend to simplify and 
clarify the voter's task. "Under our present system 
of choosing representatives to make our laws, the char- 
acter and personality of candidates and the necessity 
for party success are constantly kept before the voters. 
But we are never quite certain what sort of legislation 
will be enacted by the men we send to the legislature 
or city council, or to Congress, for in comparatively few 
cases are candidates pledged to vote for a definite 
measure. Even when they are so pledged, there is no 
assurance that a good representative will remain good 
after he is elected and will redeem his pre-election 
promises. Under the initiative and referendum, on the 
other hand, a definite measure is submitted to the 
voter for his approval or disapproval. He can decide 
whether he wishes this particular law or prefers some 
other law, without regard to the character and promises 
of candidates and the importance of party success." 1 

In opposition to the initiative and referendum it is 
claimed that the efficacy of direct legislation has been 
much overestimated. Referring all questions to the 
people does not bring good government. It is amusing 
to recall that the two Bonapartist despots of France 

1 Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics (Scribner). p. 588. 



222 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

in the last century delighted to sanction their illegal 
acts with flattering plebiscites. 

In America the use of the initiative and referendum 
has not greatly impaired the grip of "bosses" and "ma- 
chines" upon our State legislatures. While these 
methods will occasionally secure an immediate enact- 
ment of the popular will against opposing interests, 
yet in the long run the frequent use of the initiative 
and referendum tends to break down our legislative 
system. They destroy the responsibility of the indi- 
vidual legislator. When the reformer demands a new 
law a surly member of the legislature can reply — 
"Let the people initiate it if they want it." 

Moreover, the initiative violates an important prin- 
ciple of our representative democracy. A legislature 
should be a deliberative body. Its members come from 
different parts of the State, from the farm, the fac- 
tory, the lawyer's office, and the business office; these 
members have varying interests, attitudes, and opin- 
ions ; they are supposed to represent all the people. A 
bill introduced in such a body of representatives may 
be amended in a way to conform to the best judgment 
and experience of many men; defects may be cor- 
rected and valuable additions may be inserted. But 
this is not the case with a bill drawn up by some person 
or association, under the system of the direct initiative 
and offered to the people in a vote at the polls. Leg- 
islation may be needed upon the subject in question, 
but the persons who formulated the measure were nec- 
essarily partisan, and they may have failed to give the 
proposal the broad view which a truly deliberative body 
is expected to assume. Under the system of the direct 
initiative when a proposed bill comes before the people 
the flaws cannot be eliminated. Corrections and amend- 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 223 

ments are not possible. The people must accept it in 
toto, or reject it in toto. 

Of course, in some States it may seem that the adop- 
tion of the initiative and referendum is necessary as 
a relief from corrupt politics. But it is questionable 
whether such a form of direct legislation should be 
introduced permanently into a representative system. 
The tendency of the initiative and referendum is to 
detract from the responsibility of the individual mem- 
bers of the legislature; and, without such responsibility, 
representative government becomes a failure. 

RECONSTRUCTION OF STATE GOVERNMENTS 

Reorganization of the State legislatures. — Sev- 
eral proposals for the reform of our State legislatures 
have been advanced in recent years, including (1) a 
decrease in membership of the General Assembly, and 
(2) the abolition of the upper house or Senate. In 
19 1 3 Governor Hodges of Kansas proposed that his 
State should substitute for the present system a one- 
house legislature consisting of only eight or sixteen 
members (one or two members being elected from each 
congressional district). This small unicameral legis- 
lature, he thought, would attract a better class of pol- 
iticians, it would focus public attention upon a few 
men and would thereby fix responsibilty. Moreover, 
such a legislature would be harder to corrupt. 

In 191 1 an organization in Oregon known as the 
People's Power League proposed the abolition of the 
second chamber, and in 1912 and 1914 a constitutional 
amendment for this purpose was submitted to the peo- 
ple of Oregon. A similar constitutional amendment 
was also proposed in Oklahoma in 1914 and in Arizona 
in 1916. All of these proposed amendments have failed 



224 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

of adoption. In Oklahoma the vote was 71,000 to 
94,000; and it is not improbable that a Western State 
some day will attempt the experiment of abandoning 
the two-chambered system and will substitute the 
unicameral legislature, as seven of the nine Canadian 
provinces have already done. 

The Governor as a legislative leader. — The con- 
stitutional balance between the legislature and the Gov- 
ernor is still so strictly drawn that it is only a Governor 
with an unusual personality who can maintain a leader- 
ship of the legislature. With the increase in his 
powers, however, the executive has tended to become a 
real party leader. An able, patriotic, and morally ag- 
gressive Governor with the people behind him can 
compel a legislature to do his bidding. The history of 
the last half century offers several striking instances. 
In 1884 Grover Cleveland as Governor of New York 
forced a reluctant legislature to pass a civil service 
bill. In the same State, during the last two years of 
the nineteenth century, Theodore Roosevelt swept the 
legislature out of the control of the "bosses," and he 
would have continued his war upon Senator Piatt's 
machine for a succeeding term had he not been elimi- 
nated from New York politics in 1900 by his nomina- 
tion to the Vice-Presidency of the United States. Sev- 
eral years later, when Mr. Hughes was Governor of 
New York, the legislature put off his demand for a 
bill abolishing racetrack gambling upon the flimsy 
excuse of lack of time. Accordingly, after the legis- 
lature had adjourned, Mr. Hughes summoned the two 
houses to meet in a special session, where, under the 
focus of public opinion, the "bosses" were compelled 
to yield. Woodrow Wilson's battle in 1911-1913 with 
the party leaders in the New Jersey legislature is a well- 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 225 

known story. In this case the party "bosses" attempted 
to block the enactment of the bills popularly known as 
the "Seven Sisters" which, among other things, were 
designed to change the notorious laws of the State re- 
garding the regulation of corporations. The work of 
Governor Allen, of Kansas, in establishing the Court 
of Industrial Relations in 1920, is another illustration 
of gubernatorial leadership. 

The success of our best Governors has depended 
largely upon their attitude toward their office. They 
have considered themselves to be lawmakers as well 
as law enforcers. Consciously or unconsciously, they 
have realized that the Check and Balance System has 
been tested and found wanting. According to old- 
fashioned notions the Governor should stay within 
his narrow sphere and not trouble himself with the 
legislature ; he should only execute the laws and leave 
the making of laws to the legislature. It is still thought 
by some critics that it is not right for the Governor to 
attempt to lead the legislature; and the "bosses" are 
always shocked when a Governor like Mr. Roosevelt or 
Mr. Wilson oversteps the ancient traditions of the 
office. 

Leadership of the legislature by the Governor, how- 
ever, is exactly what the American people desire to- 
day. We have learned by experience that bodies of 
men habitually need guidance and management, not 
necessarily because of weakness of character but be- 
cause the timely enactment of sound legislation re- 
quires a certain degree of masterly direction. Should 
this direction come from "bosses" lurking behind the 
scenes and cloaking their individuality in the member- 
ship of a numerous assembly of legislators? Or 
should it come from a man exposed to the view of the 



226 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

people, who can be made to shoulder the responsibility 
for all acts of government? It would seem that both 
the leadership and the responsibility should be placed 
upon a single officer. Our legislatures are usually com- 
posed of honest men, but the defects of the Check and 
Balance System have encouraged the subtle influence 
of the "bosses." It is exceedingly difficult for a group 
of independent men in the legislature to withstand, or 
even sometimes to be aware of the pressure of the 
"machine." What is needed is effective leadership and 
responsibility. The "machine" can lead, but it is not 
responsible to the people. The Governor can both 
lead and assume responsibility to the people. 

Readjustment of the relations of the Governor 
and the legislature. — The attempt of various Gov- 
ernors to exercise the role which public opinion has 
thrust upon them has sometimes led to friction with 
the legislatures, not to say unseemly altercations. With 
a view to eliminating this wasteful antagonism between 
the two departments, several changes have recently 
been made in the legislative methods of various State 
governments. In 19 13 the Illinois House of Repre- 
sentatives adopted a rule providing that any resolu- 
tion or bill introduced to carry out a recommendation 
of the Governor might, by executive message addressed 
to the Speaker of the house, be made an "administra- 
tion measure," and when such a bill is reported out of 
committee it has precedence over all other bills save 
appropriation bills. This rule very obviously brings the 
Governor and the legislature into closer relations. It 
was intended not only to insure that the recommenda- 
tions of the Governor should have adequate considera- 
tion in the lower house, but also to impose upon the 
Governor the obligation to have a legislative program. 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 227 

Virginia and Alabama have adopted another measure 
which likewise tends to associate the Governor more 
intimately with the law-making process. In these 
States the Governor now has the power to propose 
amendments to bills which the legislature has under 
consideration. 

The new legislative methods above described are 
constitutional aids to the Governor who, acting in 
accordance with the spirit of the times, frames a legis- 
lative program and champions it before the legislature. 
In promoting his program the Governor often sends 
for the prominent members of the legislature, particu- 
larly the chairmen of important committees and urges 
them to support his bills. In some States the Gov- 
ernor sometimes comes before the committees in person 
to urge his policies. In all States the influence of 
the Governor upon the work of the legislature is in- 
creasing; and his influence has generally been for bet- 
ter laws. 

Budgetary reform. — It will be unnecessary to dwell 
long in this place upon the movement for budgetary re- 
form because the need for this reform in the States has 
been the same as that in the national government and 
we have already covered this ground in a preceding 
chapter. The majority of the States have in late years 
undertaken to establish a better system of expenditures 
and revenues; and have gone much further than the 
national government in the matter of financial recon- 
struction. There can be no well-balanced budget with- 
out the executive having the power to fix the maximum 
amount for every item in the expenditure side of the 
financial estimates. This is practically the only way 
whereby economy in public finance can be obtained. 
The Governor who wishes to make a good showing 



228 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

before the people aims to keep taxes low by eliminat- 
ing unnecessary and extravagant expenditures. It is 
also the interest of the legislature to make a good rec- 
ord by reducing taxation, but the temptation of the 
individual assemblyman to secure as much money as 
possible from the public treasury to be spent in his dis- 
trict or for the benefit of his friends is almost irresist- 
ible, and by a process of log-rolling the people's money 
is often waste fully appropriated by irresponsible legis- 
lators. Hence, more satisfactory results are obtained 
by the employment of the executive budget, or a budget 
which is chiefly controlled by the Governor, than can 
be obtained by the employment of the old-fashioned 
legislative budget. Maryland perhaps has made the 
greatest progress in financial reform. As provided by 
the constitutional amendment of 1916, the Governor 
at the beginning of each session lays before the Gen- 
eral Assembly a budget of proposed expenditures and 
estimated revenues for the ensuing two years. The 
expenditures and appropriations, as proposed by the 
Governor, are put in the form of a budget bill. With 
a few specified exceptions no item in this bill may be 
increased by the General Assembly. On the other 
hand, items may be reduced or stricken out, except 
items for salaries of officers already established, which 
of course, by constitutional provision, cannot be re- 
duced during the term of the official then in office. 

Nearly half of the States of the Union have adopted 
another method whereby the Governor has a more lim- 
ited control over the budget. In these States the Gov- 
ernor submits a proposed budget, but the legislature 
retains the power to increase or otherwise change the 
items of the budget. The Governor, however, is em- 
powered to veto separate items in appropriation bills 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 229 

or to reduce these items. This second method, not so 
satisfactory, to be sure, as Maryland's, is an improve- 
ment upon the former chaos in State financial systems. 

The reconstruction of the administrative de- 
partments. — Under the first State constitutions the 
number of executive offices was not large, but during 
the hundred and fifty years which have since elapsed 
many new offices, boards and commissions have been 
established from time to time. These offices, and par- 
ticularly the boards and commissions, were created not 
with a view to rounding out the administrative system 
of the State, but, rather, for the purpose of meeting 
special social and economic needs. As a result, our 
State governments have been deficient in the qualities 
that characterize a well-correlated and centralized ad- 
ministrative system. Attention was called to the need 
of reform of American executive methods in 19 10 
when President Taft obtained from Congress an ap- 
propriation of a hundred thousand dollars for a Com- 
mission on Economy and Efficiency to inquire into the 
methods of transacting public business. In 19 12 New 
Jersey and Massachusetts established State commis- 
sions on economy and efficiency, and in a few years 
similar action was taken by other States. 

One of the ablest reports was that made by the Illi- 
nois Commission in 191 5. It recommended that about 
a hundred different offices, boards, and commissions be 
consolidated into less than a dozen executive de- 
partments and that the chief official in each department 
should be appointed by the Governor, with the consent 
of the Senate, and be responsible to the Governor for 
the conduct of the department. The legislature of Illi- 
nois was slow to act upon these recommendations until 
Governor Lowden made a vigorous appeal to the peo- 



2 3 o AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

pie of the State. Accordingly in 19 17, the legislature 
enacted the Civil Administration Code, which consoli- 
dated a large number of executive functions into nine 
departments under the control of the Governor. The 
new departments are: (1) Finance, (2) Agriculture, 
(3) Labor, (4) Mines and Minerals, (5) Public 
Works and Buildings, (6) Public Welfare, (7) Pub- 
lic Health, (8) Trade and Commerce, (9) Registra- 
tion and Education, (10) Military and Naval. 

A few other States, besides Illinois, have reorgan- 
ized and consolidated their administrative systems. 
This reconstruction of the executive offices has pro- 
moted the efficiency of the public service. At the same 
time the supervising powers of the Governor have been 
enhanced; and consequently responsibility has been 
more conspicuously fixed upon one man. 

For Further Reading 

The Governor as Political Leader. — J. M. Ma- 
thews, Principles of American State Administration, ch. 
iii; J. T. Young, The New American Government and 
Its Work, pp. 320-324; J. L. Whittle, Grover Cleveland, 
pp. 23-35 ; Theodore Roosevelt, Autobiography, pp. 293- 
339; W. B. Hale, Woodrow Wilson, pp. 160-213; H. J. 
Ford, Woodrow Wilson, ch. v; W. E. Dodd, Woodrow 
Wilson and His Work, ch. v. 

The Powers of the Governor. — C. A. Beard, Amer- 
ican Government and Politics, ch. xxiv; W. B. Munro, 
Government of the United States, ch. xxx; J. M. Ma- 
thews, Principles of American State Administration, ch. 
iv, v; A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United 
States, ch. x; J. H. Finley and J. F. Sanderson, The 
American Executive and Executive Methods, ch. vi-xiv. 

Organization and Powers of the State Legisla- 
tures. — P. S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legis- 



GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE 231 

lative Methods, ch. iv-vi; W. B. Munro, Government of 
the United States, ch. xxix ; C. A. Beard, American Gov- 
ernment and Politics, ch. xxv ; B. F. Shambaugh, Statute 
Law-Making in Iowa, pp. 349-386, 593-602, 613-687; 
Illinois Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 

528-537. 

Criticisms on Legislative Methods. — P. Orman 
Ray, Introduction to Political Parties and Practical 
Politics, pp. 511-532; J. T. Young, New American Gov- 
ernment and Its Work, pp. 326-335, 643-651 ; Charles 
McCarthy, The Wisconsin Idea, pp. 194-232; C. A. 
Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 532-546; 
A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, 
pp. 129-151 ; B. F. Shambaugh, Statute Law-Making in 
Iowa, pp. 161-168, 535-569; Illinois Constitutional Con- 
vention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 555-569. 

The Initiative and Referendum. — P. Orman Ray, 
Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics, 
pp. 581-600; W. B. Munro, Initiative, Referendum and 
Recall, ch. viii ; J. D. Barnett, Operation of the Initiative, 
Referendum and Recall in Oregon, ch. i-vi, xxv ; Bulletins 
for Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917, pp. 
179-286; Illinois Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 
1920, pp. 65-165. 

The Executive Budget. — J. M. Mathews, Principles 
of State Administration, pp. 284-293 ; W. F. Willoughby, 
The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States,* 
ch. i- iii ; Bulletins for Massachusetts Constitutional Con- 
vention, 1917, pp. 51-104; Illinois Constitutional Conven- 
tion Bulletins, 1920, pp. 268-287. 

Proposals for the Reorganization of the Legis- 
lature. — Proceedings of the Conferences of Governors, 
in 1913, pp. 121-135; A. M. Kales, Unpopular Govern- 
ment in the United States, ch. xiv-xvi ; Illinois Constitu- 
tional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 528-533. 

Readjustment of Relations of Governor and 
Legislature. — A. N. Holcombe, State Government in 



232 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the United States, ch. xiv ; J. M. Mathews, Principles of 
American State Administration, ch. iii, xix. 

Reconstruction of the Administrative Depart- 
ments. — G. A. Weber, Organized Efforts for the Im- 
provement of Methods of Administration in the United 
States, pp. 84-161 ; A. E. Buck, Administrative Consolida- 
tion in State Governments in National Municipal Review, 
(1919), VIII, pp. 639-667; J. M. Mathews, Administra- 
tive Reorganization in Illinois in National Municipal Re- 
view, (1920), IX, pp. 739-755; Report Reconstruction 
Commission of New York State, 1919, pp. 3-44. 



CHAPTER XI 

STATE WELFARE AND ADMINISTRATION 

The purpose of all government is the promotion of 
the public welfare. The States have, therefore, very 
wisely attempted to solve some of the problems of our 
modern social and industrial systems, to apply the les- 
sons of science to the everyday work and life of our 
citizens, to eliminate crime and poverty by preventive 
means and to encourage the people in health, right 
living, and happiness. The industrial revolution in 
America has made our economic system very complex. 
With the growth of population, the congestion of cities, 
the rise of manufacturing, the development of trans- 
continental transportation, and the appearance of huge 
aggregations of capital and of powerful labor unions, 
the States have found it necessary to pass laws to 
regulate many phases of our industrial life. In order 
to enforce these laws it has been necessary to estab- 
lish various boards and. commissions. In every State 
these boards and special commissioners are numerous. 
In New York there are 187 such agencies; in Massa- 
chusetts, 216. They require a vast army of officials 
and employees, in Illinois nearly 8,000, while in New 
York there are 20,664. 

THE STATES AND PUBLIC WELFARE 

The work of the States in the promotion of the 
public welfare may be described under nine heads: 
(1) education, (2) vocational training, (3) public 
health, (4) charities and correction, (5) business pro- 

233 



234 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

tection and regulation, (6) labor conditions, (7) mili- 
tary and police, (8) public property and the conserva- 
tion of natural resources, and (9) taxation and finance. 

Education. — In a democratic country education is 
justly considered as the chief service of the govern- 
ment. Indeed, the preservation of our democracy very 
largely depends upon the right training of the youth. 
A well-known American educator has said: "There 
is no magic in the word 'republic' to insure good gov- 
ernment; the magic is in the intelligence and integrity 
of the people. There is no power in declarations of 
independence to free people from ignorance and vice. 
There is no safety in paper constitutions; State and 
national constitutions must be written in the hearts of 
the people." Again he said : "The State is vitally in- 
terested in training good citizens. Every ignorant 
voter is a menace to democracy. Whenever the ballot 
does not express the judgment of an intelligent voter, 
free institutions are in danger, for such voters are the 
easy prey of the demagogue." 

It is eminently fitting that the State should under- 
take the business of educating the children and youth 
of the land. If the preservation of our democracy de- 
pends upon the proper education of all the people, then 
it is a very careless or inefficient government which 
would neglect this feature of its safety. The State 
needs good citizens, and the best way to obtain them is 
to teach the children habits of orderliness, industry, 
and .prudence, to create in them an idealism, an in- 
spiration for the good and beautiful things of life. The 
Fathers were keenly aware of this necessity. Said 
Madison: "A popular government without popular 
education is but the prelude of a farce or a tragedy — 
perhaps both." The hope of Jefferson was a "system 



STATE WELFARE 235 

of general instruction, which shall reach every descrip- 
tion of our citizens, from the richest to the poorest." 

When the Puritans came to America, education in 
England was entirely in the hands of private insti- 
tutions, but at an early date the New England legisla- 
tures ordered every town to maintain a public school. 
Thus, in the beginning, public education was quite 
largely in the control of local authorities, and there it 
has very largely remained. To-day, in thirty or more 
States, the school district is the unit of local adminis- 
tration, and in forty or more States the county is the 
unit of school supervision. Iowa is an illustration of 
the general type. In each school district, rural and 
urban, a school board is elected by the people. This 
board has charge of providing school buildings, fur- 
nishing supplies, employing teachers and levying 
school taxes. A county superintendent of schools 
is also elected in each county who has super- 
vision of the rural schools, but with little power 
over the urban. Most States elect a State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction. Others have a 
Board of Education, usually appointed by the Gover- 
nor. The New York board, designated as the Board 
of Regents, is the oldest in the United States, having 
been established in 1784. In this State, centralization 
of the administration of education has gone very far. 
The regents have power to grant or revoke charters of 
all universities, colleges, or academies. They distribute 
the State funds allotted to education. They inspect and 
prescribe the courses of instruction in the public schools. 
They examine and pass upon the fitness of pupils to 
graduate from the grades and the high school. In 
other States the tendency is now toward centraliza- 
tion of public-school administration. 



236 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

The administration of our public-school systems of- 
fers problems of the most serious nature. City people 
have little realization of the importance of rural edu- 
cation, or of the effect upon the nation as well as upon 
the city that results in part from the decrepitude of 
our rural schools in the past. Thirty years ago, while 
our city schools were rapidly advancing in efficiency 
and service, the country schools were deteriorating. 
This defect in our educational system contributed to 
the remarkable exodus from the farm to the city which 
has become a serious problem to-day. Some progres- 
sive educators in America have attempted to remedy 
this weakness in our educational system. They have 
striven to increase the efficiency and professional ability 
of our rural teachers. Normal schools have been es- 
tablished, and study centers for teachers have been 
created in every county of some agricultural States 
like Iowa. Upon the rural schools in a large measure 
depends the happiness of our nation. The movement 
toward the city which is leaving the countrysides de- 
serted cannot be stayed while our country schools are 
neglected. 

Vocational training. — "Every man should have a 
trade," says an old proverb, and it is a matter of con- 
cern to the state whether its citizens are idle, shiftless 
and indifferent, or whether they are industriously and 
happily engaged in the trades and professions. The 
modern state has found it to be a wise policy to en- 
courage the learning of trades and professions and the 
acquiring of skill and excellence on the part of young 
men and women. The State universities and agricul- 
tural colleges and many private institutions offer 
courses where students may specialize in law, medi- 
cine, engineering, architecture, chemistry, and scientific 



STATE WELFARE 237 

farming. Particularly the agricultural schools, in 
cooperation with the federal government, have sought 
to furnish instruction and encouragement to the farm- 
ers. It used to be said that "any fool can farm," but 
that is far from the truth to-day. Farming is an occu- 
pation requiring science, practical knowledge, and skill. 
Many State colleges offer a course of two or four years 
to farmer lads in the chemistry of the soil, crop-raising, 
stock-breeding, and economics of the farm; and some 
colleges offer short courses in the winter time, when 
the busy fathers of these lads may leave their work for 
a few weeks and obtain some of the same instruction 
which is given their sons. Through the wise foresight 
of enlightened leaders this vocational training is ex- 
tending into the rural schools. In some States boys 
and girls are encouraged to buy and undertake to feed 
live stock properly or raise an acre of corn under scien- 
tific management. Banks often loan money to boys 
and girls for such purposes. A sense of proprietorship, 
of responsibility, of service, is thus awakened. The 
proud possessors of these farm animals, or of an acre 
of corn, are eager to learn the best method of caring 
for their property; and no case is on record of the 
failure of any such borrower to repay the principal and 
interest of his loan. The ultimate result is an early in- 
terest in scientific farming and a willingness to stay 
in the country instead of following the lure of the 
city. 

In the cities the high schools are offering courses in 
bookkeeping, carpentry, and machine-work which will 
train boys and girls for practical work. In some 
schools the pupils are actually paid a certain wage for 
shop-work done under the supervision of expert in- 
structors. Most States also have institutions for the 



27,8 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

blind where young pupils are given a twelve-year 
course in the common branches and in music. They 
are also taught a useful occupation. The girls learn 
knitting, crocheting, fancywork, hand and machine 
sewing, and domestic science. The boys are taught 
netting, weaving, broom-making, cane-seating, car- 
pentry, and piano-tuning. Here these unfortunate 
children may attain the wonderful satisfaction of 
knowing that they are of some use to the world. 

Before leaving this subject we should finally observe 
that the purpose of public education is to train the 
youth to right-living and right-thinking. It is to teach 
the people to serve the state, the community, their 
fellow men. Our schools should make better men and 
women, better husbands and wives, better citizens. 
Without progress, hope, ambition, and idealism, life 
becomes a sorry thing. It has been well said that 
"youth is no crime, and inexperience is no disgrace; 
but youth that does not aspire, and age that has not 
learned from experience are both a disgrace and a 
crime." 

Public health. — The attempt to combat disease and 
preserve the people's health during the first seventy or 
eighty years of our national history was left to local 
authorities. Massachusetts was the first State, in 1869, 
to establish a State Board of Health and to institute a 
State-wide enforcement of legislation relating to the 
public health. Other States adopted this reform, and 
there is to-day no State without some agency of this 
sort. But the efficiency and powers of State Boards 
of Health vary; and some commonwealths depend al- 
most entirely upon the administration of municipal 
and county authorities. 

The growth of governmental activity in the regula- 



STATE WELFARE 239 

tion of public health has gone hand in hand with the 
great discoveries of medicine. The discovery by Pas- 
teur and others in 1862 of the nature of bacteria revo- 
lutionized the study of contagious diseases. Science 
bore out the homely proverb that "an ounce of preven- 
tion is worth a pound of cure." And medical leaders 
urged upon the state the necessity of preventing con- 
tagious diseases by hygienic reforms legally enforced. 
The result has been a great improvement in public 
health. In some of the English factory towns during 
the middle of the nineteenth century the annual death 
rate was as high as sixty per thousand. In a few Amer- 
ican industrial centers less than a quarter of a century 
ago the death rate was over thirty per thousand. The 
average for the whole United States is now eighteen. 
The infant mortality during the summer time in our 
great cities has been heart-rending. But the estab- 
lishment of milk depots, and the selling of ice at cost 
has helped to give the babies a "fighting chance" to live. 
Among the many regulations and activities of the 
States in regard to public health may be cited : 

1. Providing a pure water supply. 

2. Quarantine laws. 

3. Vaccination and inoculation to prevent contagious 
or infectious diseases. 

4. Pure food laws. 

5. Laws regulating the practice of medicine and 
sale of drugs. 

6. Sanitary regulations enforced upon the public 
in regard to spreading disease. 

7. Education of the children in schools regarding 
health and hygiene. 

8. Education of mothers in regard to care of infants 
and children. 



240 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

9. Establishment of clinics and free dispensaries. 

10. Campaign against tuberculosis. 

Some States have undertaken health administration 
along all of these lines. Other States have relegated 
most of such administration to the county or city gov- 
ernments. Fortunately there is a growing tendency to- 
ward greater State control. Disease is not a local 
matter; it is no respecter of boundary lines, but travels 
from city to city and county to county. To secure effi- 
ciency in combating disease it is necessary to have 
large areas under the supervision of a vigilant central 
authority. 

Charities and correction. — The modern age is 
coming to the belief that the greater part of poverty, 
disease, and crime may be prevented if the state uses 
scientific methods to train the citizens to right living. 
Nevertheless, we have among us the pauper, the insane, 
and the criminal, and it is necessary to provide for 
these people as well as to seek to eliminate the evil 
conditions which contributed to their present condition. 

In the treatment of these classes it has been found 
that public charity and correction can better be ad- 
ministered by the State than by local authorities; and 
there is a tendency to put all public charitable institu- 
tions and houses of correction under the supervision 
or complete control of State boards. In New Jersey 
there is a State Board of Control composed of the 
Governor and eight members, one of whom must be a 
woman, appointed for a term of eight years by the 
Governor, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. 
This board has complete jurisdiction over the fifteen 
State institutions for the insane, feeble-minded, epilep- 
tic, juvenile delinquents, adult delinquents, tubercular 
patients, disabled soldiers, and the blind. 



STATE WELFARE 241 

In New York all private charitable institutions which 
receive public aid are subject to the inspection and 
supervision of the State Board of Charities. In this 
State the problem of public charities is staggering in 
its dimensions. There are 53,000 defectives, depend- 
ents, and delinquents in the thirty-nine State hospitals, 
charitable institutions and prisons. This is but a small 
part of all defectives, dependents and delinquents in 
the State; the number in public and private institutions 
receiving public aid which are subject to the visitation 
and inspection of the State Board is 777,814, or eight 
per cent of the population, an almost increditable num- 
ber. 1 This does not include patients in private insti- 
tutions which do not receive public aid; and hence 
the total figure will be a little greater. Of the thirty- 
nine public charitable institutions in New York, there 
are thirteen hospitals for the insane, four institutions 
for the feeble-minded, one for the care of epileptics, 
one for patients with incipient tuberculosis, one for 
the care and treatment of deformed and crippled 
children, two reformatories for men, two reforma- 
tories for women, two reformatories for boys, one 
reformatory for girls, one school for the blind, and 
other institutions for Indians and soldiers and sailors. 
The State must also provide prisons and penitentiaries 
to guard and house all criminals who have been con- 
victed of violating State laws and sentenced by the 
courts to imprisonment. The State of New York 
maintains sixteen penitentiaries, reformatories, and 
farms for vagrants. 

The administration of these institutions is an enor- 
mous problem. Within the last half century the meth- 



Report of Reconstruction Commission of New York Slate, 1919, p. 169. 



242 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ods of treating crime, disease, and poverty have been 
greatly improved. No longer are the inmates of hospi- 
tals and prisons treated in the mass. There are degrees 
of physical, mental, and moral deficiency and every in- 
mate of a State institution should receive individual 
treatment. In a late report the New York State Board 
of Charities states that "year after year the relation of 
feeble-mindedness to crime, poverty, shiftlessness and 
general helplessness has become more apparent. ,, And 
the Prison Commission of the same State reported that 
"authenticated facts are at hand to indicate that at 
least fifty per cent of the inmates of prisons and re- 
formatories in New York State exhibit mental ab- 
normalities which are in need of much more specialized 
treatment than is afforded by the ordinary methods 
employed in the average penal institution." 

Business protection and regulation. — In the early 
history of our nation there was a general feeling 
that the government should never interfere with pri- 
vate business. This theory has been called the doctrine 
of laissez-faire, or "hands off," "let it alone." But 
the complexity of economic life after the industrial 
revolution in America led to the demand for a lim- 
ited governmental regulation, both for the good of 
business and for the good of the public. The States 
at an early date saw the necessity of regulating banking 
and insurance. These financial institutions are so in- 
timately connected with the prosperity of the commu- 
nity that the States have a special interest in securing 
the stability and reliability of all banks and insurance 
companies. Hence the establishment of the offices of 
Bank Examiners and Insurance Commissioners. 

In order, on the other hand, to give the large business 
concerns legal rights, the States from the very begin- 



STATE WELFARE 243 

ning granted them charters of incorporation or articles 
establishing their legal existence. A chartered corpora- 
tion, of course, has the right to transact business like 
a person and to sue in the courts. 

In recent years the States have more closely regu- 
lated the matter of granting charters, in order to pro- 
tect the public against investing in worthless mining 
stock and other worthless securities. In 1909 Kansas 
passed its celebrated Blue Sky Law, aimed at dishonest 
promoters who fleece the unwary investor with stocks 
and bonds having no other basis than the blue sky 
above and the paper on which they are handsomely 
printed. The securities of no company may be sold in 
Kansas which has not been examined and approved by 
the State Bank Commissioners. 

State regulation of public service corporations like 
the railroads, street-railways and traction companies, 
gas companies and ferry companies has also been 
undertaken. These corporations enjoy special privi- 
leges from the State — the right of eminent domain, for 
instance, whereby a railway may go to court to compel 
a person owning land in its right-of-way to sell the 
same. For many other reasons it appears just that 
these corporations should be regulated in part by the 
State. The purpose of the regulation is to insure a 
fair and continuous service to the public. Railway 
commissions and public utilities commissions have been 
established to enforce the laws governing such cor- 
porations. The extension of State control over public 
utility corporations has been a gradual process. Mas- 
sachusetts led the way in this development. In 1869 
the legislature created a Board of Railroad Commis- 
sioners, and in 1885 a Gas and Electric Light Commis- 
sion. In 1906 the Highway Commission was given 



244 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

authority to regulate telegraph and telephone com- 
panies. 

Labor conditions. — The labor question is one of the 
most difficult problems which the States have at- 
tempted to solve. About two persons in every five in 
the United States work for somebody else. Not only 
is the labor question important because of the number 
of wage-earners, but also because the product of the 
factory and the farm is consumed in the home. Every 
American family has a direct interest in production, 
manufacture, and transportation. There are few 
householders that have not contemplated with dread 
the approach of a coal strike in the middle of winter, 
while interruptions in the railway service may cut off 
the milk supply of a large city and endanger the lives 
of thousands of infants. 

The States have wisely attempted to provide means 
for the settlement of disputes between employer and 
labor. The most effective way of settling labor con- 
troversies is a method of adjusting disputes immedi- 
ately in the shop between the employers and employees 
concerned. But sometimes labor troubles defy a sat- 
isfactory solution by such a method and government 
aid is advisable. As early as 1886 Massachusetts es- 
tablished a Board of Arbitration and Conciliation of 
three members, one representing the employer, one 
representing the employee, and the third being chosen 
by the other two. This law does not make arbitration 
compulsory, depending rather upon the weight of pub- 
lic opinion to compel the obstreperous parties to agree 
to arbitrate. The Kansas Law of 1920, creating the 
Court of Industrial Relations, not only compels arbi- 
tration but denies the right of the workingmen to 
strike pending the decision of the court. Of course if 



STATE WELFARE 245 

the State undertakes to prohibit strikes, the State must 
be prepared, as the Kansas law provides, to take over 
and operate under compulsory process any industry in 
which the workmen have defied the law by quitting 
work. Such action may be eminently successful in a 
State like Kansas, which is preeminently agricultural 
and where the greater weight of public opinion would 
be opposed to the lawbreaking workmen. But the 
Kansas law could not be easily applied to a State almost 
completely industrial, like Massachusetts or West Vir- 
ginia, in which for the time being the preponderant 
popular opinion might be bitterly opposed to the at- 
tempt of the State to operate the industries involved in 
the conflict. 

Half a century ago most factories were dark, damp, 
and poorly ventilated buildings. The machinery often 
lacked the proper protections and frightful injuries 
were suffered by the wage-earners. Finally, however, 
laws were passed prescribing sanitary and safe con- 
ditions; factory-commissions were created to inspect 
industrial plants and enforce the law. These enlight- 
ened laws, and the wise provisions often taken volun- 
tarily by manufacturing concerns to add to the com- 
fort and convenience of the wage-earners have 
compensated both the employer and the public by 
producing greater efficiency on the part of the workers. 
And increased efficiency, of course, means an in- 
creased production. 

Women and children in industry have come under 
the more special protection of the State. Minimum 
wage commissions exist in some States for the purpose 
of fixing the lowest wage that shall be paid to women 
and girls. In the Wisconsin law of 19 13 this wage 
is determined and enforced by the Industrial Commis- 



246 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

sion. Child labor laws have also been widely adopted. 
In Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Il- 
linois, no child under the age of fourteen years may be 
employed in a factory. Commissioners and bureaus 
of inspection are charged with the duty of enforcing 
these laws. 

Workmen's compensation laws are another feature 
of the industrial legislation of many States. Eighty 
thousand wage-earners are killed and many more in- 
jured every year in American industry. Under the 
common law the employer's liability was limited by the 
rule of contributory negligence, the fellow-servant 
doctrine, and the assumption of risk rule. If a wage- 
earner were injured in the course of his employment, 
he could not secure compensation or damages from his 
employer if it could be shown that the workman's own 
negligence had contributed to the accident, or the neg- 
ligence of a fellow workman, or if the accident was 
one of the class of injuries which anyone employed in 
that work was assumed to risk, like a brakeman who 
slipped on a railroad bed and was crushed under a 
freight train. But in the last few years a new principle 
of industrial justice has been established, namely, that 
when in the course of his employment a workmen is 
injured, unless by his own willful negligence, the bur- 
den of the injury should not be thrown upon himself 
nor upon his employers, but, rather, should be included 
in the cost of production and placed upon the ultimate 
consumers. Some States have therefore enacted, as 
New York in 19 14, workmen's compensation laws for 
all hazardous industries. In New York, the State In- 
dustrial Commission appoints a Workmen's Compen- 
sation Bureau, which has power to hear all claims 
arising under the law and award money damages for 



STATE WELFARE 247 

injuries received. The damages are fixed by law and 
are paid from an insurance fund created by a tax upon 
all employers in hazardous trades. The tax is com- 
pulsory, every employer must contribute to the fund 
according to the extent and hazardous nature of his 
business. Since all manufacturers are taxed at the 
same rate in the same State, the cost of this insurance 
is supposedly added to the selling price of the goods. 

Nearly every State has a department or commission 
of labor to investigate labor conditions and to super- 
vise the various officials and boards who have charge of 
the enforcement of labor laws. In New York, as we 
have already seen, this body is called the State Indus- 
trial Commission. It is composed of five members, 
appointed by the Governor for a term of five years. 
Not more than three of the Commissioners may be of 
the same party; and each receives an annual salary of 
$8,000. In 19 1 6 John Mitchell, a former president 
of the United Mine Workers of America, was ap- 
pointed on this commission, a fact which will serve to 
illustrate the recognition accorded to labor by our 
present State governments. 

Military and police. — The National Defense Act 
of 1916 provided for an increase in the "State militia," 
or more properly called "National Guard," and also 
established a greater degree of federal control. Like 
the national government, the States have also learned 
that it is necessary to have an experienced body of 
troops for emergency action. In 1905 Pennsylvania 
established what is known as the State Police, con- 
sisting of four companies of mounted constabulary, 
415 troopers all told. In 191 7 New York created a 
similar force of 237 men, and in 1920 added to it a 
motorcycle troop. These police forces are under the 



248 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

immediate control of the Governor. They can be sent 
on short notice to any part of the State to secure crimi- 
nals at large, quell tumults, and keep the peace in 
emergencies. With the facilities offered by the auto- 
mobile for the escape of lawbreakers, and the danger 
of riots spreading beyond the control of local au- 
thorities, a mobile police force has become more and 
more necessary. 

Public property and the conservation of natural 
resources. — The States possess a vast amount of pub- 
lic property — roads, canals, public buildings, libraries, 
forests, museums, farm-lands, mines, fisheries, harbors, 
and other property. The care of these possessions re- 
quires the service of a large number of officials. In 
most States the administration of public property is 
in the hands of boards. Maryland has a State Roads 
Commission, Board of Forestry, Geological and Eco- 
nomic Survey, and a Conservation Commission having 
charge of fisheries and oyster-beds. 

Taxation and finance. — All the activities of the 
State which we have just described cost money. For 
extraordinary undertakings like the building of a 
capitol or canals and harbors, a State may issue bonds 
and borrow money; but in most States the borrowing 
capacity is, and properly should be, limited by consti- 
tutional provisions. Louisiana takes the extreme pre- 
caution (as a result of the experience of "carpet-bag" 
days, when dishonest politicians shamefully abused the 
public credit) to prohibit all debt except for the pur- 
pose of refunding the old debt, or for suppressing in- 
surrection, repelling invasion, or in time of war. North 
Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia also prohibit State debts, 
while Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have 
practically no important constitutional restrictions on 



STATE WELFARE 249 

State debts. Many States require that all laws for 
loans must be submitted to popular vote. New York 
has the largest debt, amounting, in 19 18, to $241,000,- 
000. The total for all the States is $502,000,000. 

The chief sources of State revenue are (1) revenue 
from public property such as lands and canals; (2) 
fines and penalties imposed for violation of criminal 
laws; (3) fees charged for franchises, charters of in- 
corporation and the like, and (4) taxation. 

In most States the main dependence for revenue is 
upon taxation. Several kinds of taxes are levied. 

(1) The general property tax yields the largest 
revenue in State systems, nearly eighty per cent of all 
taxes. This tax is imposed at a certain rate upon all 
property, real and personal. The rate is fixed by law 
from year to year, being a certain number of cents on 
each dollar of valuation. The property is evaluated 
by local assessors. The State general property tax 
is added to the local tax, collected by local tax collectors 
and forwarded by them to the State Treasurer. The 
tax on real property — land and buildings — is easily 
collected, for such property is tangible. This property 
is never assessed, however, at its market value, but at 
a half or even a fourth of its "full true value/' A 
State Board of Equalization attempts to equalize as- 
sessments over the State. On the other hand, the tax 
on personal property — money, stocks, bonds, mort- 
gages, jewelry, watches, and pianos — is difficult to 
collect. Much of this property is intangible, like stocks 
and bonds and mortgages; it can be hidden in bank 
vaults or carried outside of the State. Citizens are 
compelled by law to make true returns of their prop- 
erty, but the tax on this sort of property is almost 
universally evaded. "If Jove laughs at lovers' vows," 



250 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

said a witty economist, "he probably guffaws at tax- 
payers' oaths." In 191 1, according to the assessment 
figures, the full cash value of all diamonds and jewelry 
in Chicago was only half a million dollars, while in 
the same city only one person in every one hundred 
and eighty-eight inhabitants could afford a watch or a 
clock! The evasion of the tax on mortgages, stocks 
and bonds in Cook County while difficult to measure, 
was known to be enormous. Some States have aban- 
doned their personal property tax. 

(2) Inheritance taxes are a newer form of taxation 
employed by some of the States. The rate levied upon 
estates inherited by direct heirs is low; the rate for 
collateral heirs — heirs who are not in the direct line of 
family descent — are considerably higher, in California 
as high as fifteen per cent. 

(3) Income tax. Several States, notably Virginia, 
Wisconsin, Ohio, and Massachusetts, levy a tax on the 
incomes of individuals. Of course, this field of taxa- 
tion is also entered by the federal government, causing 
double taxation. 

(4) Corporation tax. Many States like New York 
have levied heavy corporation taxes. These taxes in 
New York include organization and license fees, an 
annual franchise tax on capital stock, and a tax on 
the income of corporations. About thirty per cent of 
the revenue of the State comes from corporation taxes. 

(5) Business and professional taxes are levied by a 
number of Southern States. 

(6) Automobile licenses supply a new source of 
State revenue. 

(7) Poll taxes are levied in some States. This is a 
very small source of revenue, consisting of a levy of a 
dollar or two dollars upon every adult man in the 



STATE WELFARE 251 

State. On the theory that every citizen should make 
some contribution to the support of the government 
according to his ability, it has been claimed that even 
the poor man should pay this minimum direct tax. But 
this tax which was once almost universal is being 
steadily abandoned. 

The cost of operating State governments has in- 
creased enormously. In 1909 New York taxes 
amounted to $28,000,000. In 19 18 they had increased 
to $76,000,000. The sources of taxation employed by 
this State and the tax returns are indicated in the fol- 
lowing table : 

New York State Taxes, Fiscal Year Ended 
June 30, 1918 

Direct State Tax $13,203,046 

Corporation Taxes 12,489,782 

Franchise Taxes 9,588,856 

Excise Taxes 1 1,045,392 

Inheritance Tax 1 1,433,400 

Fees of Public Officers 3,184,490 

Stock Transfer Tax 5,312,032 

Automobile licenses and fines 2,723,704 

Investment Tax 1,399,381 

Organization Tax 819,365 

Mortgage Tax 938,866 

Sundry and miscellaneous 4,218,490 

$76,357,804 

Information concerning State governments. — 

Democratic governments should seek to keep the 
people informed as to the activities and business of the 
government. Many States, therefore, publish handy 
documents, giving the constitution of the State, the 
names and duties of the various officials, election votes, 



252 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

taxes, legislative appropriations, and considerable 
other information for the citizen and the student. 
These documents can usually be obtained from the 
Secretary of State, or from an Assemblyman. In New 
York this volume is called the Legislative Manual and 
is an attractive book of over 1,100 pages containing 
numerous maps and charts. Pennsylvania publishes 
the useful Smull's Legislative Hand Book, a veritable 
cyclopaedia of political information. Iowa publishes 
an Official Register, Illinois a Blue Book, and Indiana 
a Year Book. The various boards and commissions 
publish annual reports, some of them being lengthy 
technical accounts full of dry tables of statistics, which 
are necessary for the expert but uninteresting to the 
public. Other reports are presented in readable and 
inviting form. The Annual Reports of the Massa- 
chusetts State Board of Health may be given as ex- 
amples of excellent presentation. In most States, the 
reports of boards and commissions can be procured by 
citizens of those States upon a written request. 

For Further Reading 

Education. — C. P. Colegrove, The Teacher and the 
School, pp. 78-92; C. A. Scott, Social Education, pp. 
1-22; C. H. Johnston, The Modem High School, pp. 20- 
41 ; John Dewey, Democracy and Education, ch. i-v ; 
S. T. Dutton and David Sneddon, Administration of 
Public Education in the United States, ch. i-v ; Alexander 
Inglis, Principles of Secondary Education, ch. v; E. P. 
Cubberley, Public Education in the United States, ch. v, 
xiii ; E. P. Cubberley and E. C. Elliott, State and Comity 
School Administration, II, ch. i, v; C. H. Judd, Introduc- 
tion to the Scientific Study of Education, ch. iii. 

Rural Schools.— -H. W. Foght, The American Rural 



STATE WELFARE 253 

School, ch. i, ii ; E. P. Cubberley and E. C. Elliott, State 
and County School Administration, II, ch. x; G. H. 
Betts and O. E. Hall, Better Rural Schools, pp. 1-14; 
Irving King, Education for Social Efficiency, ch. i-iv; 
R. L. Finney and A. L. Schafer, Administration of Vil- 
lage and Consolidated Schools, ch. xviii. 

Vocational Training. — J. M. Brewer, Vocational 
Guidance Movement, pp. 1-52; A. L. Leake, Vocational 
Education of Girls and Women, pp. 33-93; R. R. Lutz, 
Wage Earning and Education, pp. 18-37; F. A. Vander- 
lip, Business and Education, pp. 56-81 ; J. E. Stout, The 
High School, pp. 31-43; F. M. Leavitt, Examples of In- 
dustrial Education, pp. 235-266. 

Public Health. — Irving Fisher, Report on National 
Vitality; Its Wastes and Conservation (Washington : 
1909) ; W. H. Allen, Civics and Health, pp. 229-267; L. 
H. Gulick and L. P. Ayres, Medical Inspection of 
Schools, pp. 1-20; J. M. Mathews, Principles of Amer- 
ican State Administration, pp. 374-400. 

Charities and Correction. — A. G. Warner, Ameri- 
can Charities (1919), ch. xxi-xxiii; F. H. Wines, Pun- 
ishment and Reformation, ch. i-iii, xii, xv ; E. T. Devine, 
Principles of Relief, ch. xvi ; C. R. Henderson, The De- 
pendent, Defective and Delinquent Classes, pp. 169-209; 
C. R. Henderson, Preventive Agencies and Methods, ch. 
v ; C. R. Henderson, Prison Reform, ch. i ; C. R. Hender- 
son, Penal and Reformatory Institutions, ch. iii ; H. H. 
Hart, Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children, ch. v, 
vi; Maurice Parmalee, Criminology, ch. v; J. C. Briggs, 
History of Social Legislation in Iowa, ch. ix-xii ; Report 
of the Department of Public Welfare of Illinois, 1920, 
pp. 7-19; Annual Report of the New York State Board of 
Charities, 19 19, I, pp. 3-24. 

Business Protection and Regulation. — J. T. Young, 
New American Government and Its Work, pp. 342-365 ; 
Bruce Wyman, Control of the Market, pp. 167-188; S. O. 
Dunn, The American Transportation Problem, pp. 222- 



254 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

280; B. F. Shambaugh, Iowa Applied History Series, I, 
pp. 97-124, 144-186. 

Labor Legislation. — J. R. Commons and J. B. An- 
drews, Principles of Labor Legislation, pp. 294-414; J. J. 
Young, New American Government and Its Work, pp. 
369-396; S. M. Kingsbury, Labor Laws and Their En- 
forcement, ch. iv ; E. H. Downey, History of Labor Leg- 
islation in Iowa, ch. i, ii; Debate between Samuel 
Gompers and Henry Justin Allen {1920) ; The Court of 
Industrial Relations (issued by State of Kansas, 
Topeka). 

Military and State Police. — United States War De- 
partment, Annual Report for 1917, Vol. I, pp. 847-926; 
J. M. Mathews, Principles of American State Adminis- 
tration, pp. 437-454 ; Katheryn Mayo, Justice for All. 

Conservation of Natural Resources. — C. A. Van 
Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources, pp. 1-14, 385- 
393 ; P. S. Reinsch, Readings on American State Govern- 
ment, pp, 262-285. 

State Roads. — J. T. Young, New American Govern- 
ment and Its Work, pp. 442-445 ; J. E. Brindley, History 
of Road Legislation in Iowa, pp. 265-350. 

State Finance and Taxation. — C. A. .Beard, Amer- 
ican Government and Politics, pp. 706-720; J. M. Ma- 
thews, Principles of American State Administration, pp. 
215-295; Illinois Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 
1920, pp. 215-368; Bulletins for Massachusetts Consti- 
tutional Convention, 1917, I, pp. 107-169; Taxation and 
Revenue Systems of State and Local Governments (U. S. 
Bureau of the Census, 1914), pp. 9-10; J. E. Brindley, 
History of Taxation in Iowa, I, ch. xiv, xv. 



CHAPTER XII 

COUNTY AND RURAL GOVERNMENT 

Every State save Louisiana is divided into counties. 
In Louisiana the parishes correspond to the counties 
found in the other States. The counties, in turn, are 
usually divided into townships ; and in some States the 
townships are still further divided into school districts. 
With the exception of the precincts and wards of the 
incorporated towns, these subdivisions are the smallest 
units of government. 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

In regard to local government in America the States 
are supreme. The national government has no au- 
thority over local affairs. The State constitutions 
provide for the form of local government and pre- 
scribe the powers of some of the local officers. By 
amendments to the constitution any State may alter its 
local institutions, may create new local governments or 
abolish old ones, may even take away local self-govern- 
ment from towns and counties and vest it in State 
officials. In States where the constitution has not de- 
fined the relations of local and State government, the 
legislature may modify local government by means of 
ordinary statutes. Local governments in the United 
States derive their authority, not from the people of 
the localities, but from the people of the whole State. 

Three types of local government in America. — 
Local government, as it exists in the United States, has 
developed from colonial institutions which were es- 

255 



256 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

sentially British in their origin. In English history, 
democracy and representative institutions appeared in 
the boroughs and shires long before they were won for 
the nation. The English colonists who came to Amer- 
ica carried with them traditions of local self-govern- 
ment that were already eight or more centuries old. 
Transplanted to America these local institutions devel- 
oped somewhat differently in various sections of our 
country, so that to-day we find three types of local 
self-government, namely, (i) the town-meeting gov- 
ernment, (2) the county government, and (3) the 
mixed or county-township government. 

( 1 ) In New England the chief unit of local govern- 
ment was the town, although counties were also or- 
ganized. The early settlers in this part of America 
were Puritans in religion and politics ; they were towns- 
folk, accustomed to intimate municipal relationships, 
with a penchant for watching the affairs of their 
neighbors and enforcing a strict communal uniformity. 
They planted their settlements first along the coast, 
and then westward in the interior. Each little com- 
munity, separated by hills and woody tangles from the 
others, was almost an independent political unit. The 
management of town affairs was in the hands of the 
town-meeting, composed of all the freemen, and as- 
sembling at frequent intervals. At the town-meetings 
the selectmen and other officers of the town were 
elected annually, taxes were levied, and ordinances 
were passed. These Puritan towns were little democ- 
racies where every freeman participated directly in the 
government. Any citizen, rich or poor, great or hum- 
ble, might move a resolution or make a speech. The 
town-meeting still survives in New England; Boston 
and other large cities have been incorporated with 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 257 

charters granted by authority of the State legislatures; 
but the small towns retain their early system. 

(2) The Southern States were largely settled by a 
different class of Englishmen than the Puritans. Cava- 
liers having affiliations with the Church of England 
came to Virginia and the Carolinas. Landed estates 
were acquired, slaves were imported to work on the 
plantations, and a high-spirited aristocracy was estab- 
lished. The population scattered over a large area. 
Towns were few. The economic unit was the planta- 
tion, and the houses of the planters were often miles 
apart. The local government was thus modeled upon 
the English shire or county. While local affairs in 
New England were managed in a popular assembly, 
the government of the Southern county was in the 
hands of a board of commissioners elected every year 
on the "green" before the county courthouse. As in 
England, the aristocratic landowners were in control 
of the county affairs. 

The county system still exists in the Southern States. 
County officers have charge of almost all local govern- 
ment. In some States the counties are not even divided 
into school districts. 

(3) In the Middle States, including New York, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, a different 
system of local government developed. New York 
was first settled by the Dutch, and in all the Middle 
States English settlements were not so old as those in 
New England. The larger settlements were incor- 
porated as boroughs, but the county was the main unit 
of local government. In time, as commerce and manu- 
factures increased, and as population grew more dense, 
towns became more numerous, and these organizations 
secured for themselves a considerable amount of self- 



258 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

government. The result was a system of local govern- 
ment consisting of both counties and towns. This 
county-township system of local government was also 
established in the West when settlements were made in 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other States in the old 
Northwest Territory. Thus, the majority of States 
in the Union are divided into counties, which are sub- 
divided into townships. Officers are elected in both 
townships and counties to perform certain duties, but 
the duties of township officers are relatively unim- 
portant. In Louisiana the local unit is the parish. 

THE COUNTY 

As we have already seen, every State save Louisiana 
is divided into counties, and in Louisiana the parishes 
correspond to the counties existing in the other States. 
There are 3,028 counties in the United States, varying 
in size from Bristol County in Rhode Island, which 
contains 25 square miles, to San Bernardino County 
in California with 20,175 square miles. The average 
county in the United States contains about six hun- 
dred square miles. In population there is also great 
variation. The average county in most States includes 
about 20,000 inhabitants. 

Each county has a "county seat" or a county town, 
wherein are located the administrative offices and the 
county court. The county is not only a unit for local 
administration but it is also a subdivision of the State 
for the performance of certain functions, such as the 
collection of taxes and the canvass of elections. 

The county board. — In all States, save Rhode 
Island, the counties have a supervising body generally 
called the county board of commissioners or super- 
visors. The membership of the county boards varies 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 259 

from three to over fifty. Usually each township elects 
a member, while cities within the county sometimes 
elect one member from each ward. 

The county boards have both the legislative and ad- 
ministrative functions. Ordinarily these powers are: 
(1) to levy taxes for local purposes and appropriate 
local funds, (2) to construct and maintain roads, 
bridges, and ferries, (3) to care for the county build- 
ings, (4) to supervise poor relief and maintain an 
almshouse, and (5) to supervise the national, State, 
and local elections. 

A few words should be said about the last-named 
function of the county boards. In most States outside 
of New England these boards establish the polling 
places and provide the ballots for all elections, and 
they also act as boards of canvassers to declare the 
results of the elections. In State and national elec- 
tions the returns are sent to the canvassing officials at 
the State capitals. 

Justice and police. — In most States the county is 
a judicial area, each county having a county court. 
In sixteen of the States each county has its own judge ; 
but the majority of States are divided into judicial 
districts or circuits with a judge for each circuit, who 
holds court in succession at the different county seats. 
Thus Missouri, which has 114 counties, is divided into 
36 judicial circuits. Special courts exist in the coun- 
ties containing large cities like Saint Louis and Kan- 
sas City. In all States, circuit and district judges, 
even when elected by the people of those circuits and 
districts, are usually considered as State officials. 

The prosecuting officer of the county is the county 
attorney or variously called the prosecuting attorney, 
district attorney, State's attorney or solicitor. In most 



260 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

States this officer is elected by the people of the county. 
His principal duty is to conduct prosecutions in the 
name of the county. In the greater number of States 
criminal prosecutions, except for petty crimes, must 
be the result of presentment or indictment by a grand 
jury. It is the duty of the prosecuting attorney to 
gather evidence for cases coming before the grand 
jury; and, after indictment of an offender, it is his 
duty to prosecute the case before the county or dis- 
trict court. The county prosecuting attorney is thus 
an important officer in the matter of enforcing law. 
Upon his energy and public spirit must depend in a 
large measure the vigor of the administration of jus- 
tice. On the other hand, the county attorney cannot 
compel a grand jury to bring an indictment. Some 
States, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, 
have dispensed with grand juries in ordinary cases, 
and permit the county attorney to begin a criminal 
prosecution by the process known as an information 
before the proper court. 

Every county in the United States has a sheriff. 
This is one of the oldest offices in our government. In 
English local government, the office existed long before 
the Norman Conquest, the modern name being derived 
from the old Saxon "shire-reeve." He was the repre- 
sentative of the king in the shire, the bailiff, the execu- 
tive officer, the chief fiscal and military officer, the 
keeper of the "king's peace," and, at one time, the 
president of the county court. In America, the sheriff 
never enjoyed such dignity as in mediaeval England, 
but even to-day the sheriff retains a large number of 
his ancient powers. 

In general, the American sheriff is the preserver of 
the peace and the executive officer of the courts. As 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 261 

a preserver of the peace he is bound to pursue and ar- 
rest all traitors, murderers, felons, and other offenders 
and commit them to jail for safe custody. To aid him 
in the capture of criminals, he may summon a posse 
comitatus; and every man over fifteen years of age 
is under obligation to obey and follow him. In time 
of domestic violence and disorder this power is impor- 
tant only on paper. Practically it amounts to little. If 
a sheriff cannot quell a riot with the posse comitatus, 
he may call upon the Governor of the State for military 
support, and this is what almost always happens. 

As the executive agent of the court the sheriff has a 
large number of duties. He or his deputy must attend 
the sessions of the court to preserve order. He serves 
summons on the defendants and witnesses, he executes 
the writs and orders of the court, as well as the 
final decrees and judgments. He is the keeper of the 
county jail, and has charge of the hanging or electro- 
cution of prisoners sentenced to death. The sheriff 
is responsible for the care and preservation of the life 
and health of prisoners under his charge. He is liable 
in a suit for damages for the death of a prisoner by 
mob violence in case he has been negligent in his duty. 

The sheriff is generally considered as an officer of 
the whole State, but in many States there is no central 
supervision over him. In New York, Wisconsin, and 
Michigan he can be removed for cause by the Gov- 
ernor. 

The coroner is another very ancient local official. 
In modern days his duties are not so important as in 
mediaeval England, and are limited to the holding of 
an inquest to view the body of any person whose death 
has raised suspicions of violence and crime. For this 
purpose the coroner impanels a jury of six persons 



262 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

and summons witnesses, including a physician or chem- 
ist to give expert advice. Coroners' inquests have been 
the butt of ridicule for centuries. Although this an- 
cient institution does not often contribute to the dis- 
covery of crime or the apprehension of criminals, yet it 
is hardly deserving of the derision which Shakespeare 
in Hamlet (Act v, scene i) heaps upon it. In 1877 
Massachusetts improved the methods of the coroners' 
inquests in that State by providing for the appoint- 
ment of expert medical examiners. 

Other officers of the county. — Besides the ju- 
dicial officers named above there are a number of ad- 
ministrative and financial officers of the county. The 
county clerk keeps the records of the county board, 
and in many States he acts as clerk of the county court. 
In the latter capacity the county clerk enters all cases 
for trial on the docket of the court, he records the 
judgments of the court, and he has the custody of the 
papers and proceedings of the court. In some States 
the county clerk supervises the primaries and elections, 
prepares ballots, and receives election returns. He also 
issues marriage licenses. 

In every State save Rhode Island there are county 
treasurers. They receive State and county taxes, have 
custody of county funds, and disburse county payments 
upon authorized warrants. County assessors have the 
duty of valuing property for taxation. County audi- 
tors audit the accounts of the county and sign warrants 
for county disbursements. All of the States provide 
some means for preserving public record of documents 
affecting titles to real estate. The custody of these 
records in Connecticut and Rhode Island is vested in 
the town clerk; in the majority of States it is vested in 
a county officer known as the recorder or register of 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 263 

deeds. He keeps not only a record of the transfer of 
land titles but also a record of mortgages or loans and 
other instruments affecting land titles. Because of 
the expense and delay in examinations of land titles 
for every purchase or mortgage, some States have 
adopted the Torrens system of registration of titles 
of land. The system was devised by Robert Torrens 
of Australia. Certificates of title are issued by a court 
and all subsequent transactions affecting land so cer- 
tified must be entered on the registry of titles. 

In nearly all the States outside of New England 
county superintendents of schools are elected. As a 
rule, these officers have only a meager supervisory ju- 
risdiction over the rural schools. The city schools are 
not under their charge; and even in the rural school 
districts the local school trustees decide most of the 
administrative questions relating to public education. 
In many States the county superintendents are the 
agents of the State superintendent in the distribution 
of State funds to the schools. 

Among other county officers in various States are : 
the county surveyors, who make surveys of lands; 
county superintendents of highways, who keep the 
roads in repair; boards of health; overseers of the 
poor; and superintendents of the poor farms. 

County charter government. — The practice of 
electing nearly all of the county officials has not pro- 
moted the efficiency of county government. Too often 
a treasurer or auditor or clerk learns his duties only 
to be supplanted by some other party worker who has 
a claim on the profits of the office. The county govern- 
ments are sadly lacking in administrative unity ; and it 
is difficult for the public to secure information in re- 
gard to the misconduct of officials. In fact, county 



264 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

administration has been called the "jungle of American 
democracy/' The defects of ordinary county govern- 
ment are multiplied wherever a large city like New 
York, Chicago, or Saint Louis extends over a part or 
all of a county. 

California in 191 1 adopted a constitutional amend- 
ment empowering counties, through a board of fifteen 
freeholders elected by the people, to prepare a special 
charter for the government of the county. If ratified 
by popular vote, this charter is submitted to the legis- 
lature for adoption. In 191 2 Los Angeles County 
established a new government under this provision of 
the constitution. The Los Angeles plan is an applica- 
tion of the commission form of government to the 
county. A board of supervisors is elected every four 
years. All county officials are appointed by this board, 
except the sheriff, district attorney, and assessor. Cer- 
tain new offices, including those of public defender, 
superintendent of charities, and civil service commis- 
sioners, are established. The board of supervisors, 
like the commission in the new form of city govern- 
ment, is the administrative and legislative center of the 
county government. Responsibility is thus centralized, 
and honest and efficient management of local affairs 
is encouraged. Several other counties in California 
have adopted similar forms of government. 

THE TOWNSHIP 

Counties are divided into townships for rural gov- 
ernment. The urban sections are set apart as incor- 
porated cities or villages. Most of the States have a 
general law providing the conditions under which the 
more thickly settled parts of a county may become inde- 
pendent units of government as villages or cities. 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 265 

The ancient town-meeting government which still 
exists in New England has already been described. In 
New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas township- 
meetings are held ; but the authority of these meetings 
is less than that of the New England town-meeting 
and is largely limited to the election of officers and the 
vote upon appropriations by ballot of the property 
owners. The officers of the township are usually a 
committee or board of supervisors or trustees. In some 
States the duties of receiving the township funds and 
paying the authorized charges, of overseeing the poor, 
of supervising roads and drains and viewing the fences 
fall upon these officials. 

In the States of the Mississippi Valley school dis- 
tricts are often local corporations distinct from the 
townships. Townships are divided into school dis- 
tricts ; and a small number of school trustees are elected 
each year to supervise the public schools in each dis- 
trict. In other States townships are also school dis- 
tricts. The larger unit appears to be preferable for 
school administration, and accordingly many township 
high schools have been established, and even township 
graded schools. To these schools pupils are frequently 
transported from the outlying rural regions in busses 
or hacks hired by the trustees. 

STATE SUPERVISION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

State supervision of local government varies in 
the different States. This supervision has developed 
farthest, perhaps, in the field of education. In 1784 
New York began to centralize its administration of ed- 
ucation by establishing the Board of Regents. The 
State administration of charities and correction, public 



266 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

health, and roads is another example of State supervi- 
sion of local affairs. This field of State government 
is being broadened from year to year. The States are 
also beginning to exercise a greater degree of control 
over local finance. Until a few years ago county audi- 
tors were generally permitted to keep their books in 
haphazard fashion, and irregularities and dishonest 
practices grew up in county finances. Many States 
now have examiners who point out to county officers 
any deviations from the law and expose illegal 
charges against county funds. After the adop- 
tion of such a system in New York, Mr. Rich- 
ard S. Childs relates : "In Broome County the county 
boss had so manipulated things that he was able to 
draw upon the county's funds for his private benefit 
whenever he pleased, and he pleased rather often. The 
unexpected visit of the Comptroller's examiners caught 
him with a large shortage and he committed suicide." 

There is a tendency toward reconstruction of county 
government to-day which is parallel with the movement 
for bettering the government of our municipalities. 
This reform contemplates the reduction of elective offi- 
cers, the centralization of responsibility upon an elec- 
tive governing board, and the expansion of State super- 
vision particularly in the matter of public health and 
finance. 

Farm tenancy and rural credits. — It will not be 
out of place to conclude this chapter with a reference 
to a subject which is intimately connected with the wel- 
fare of our rural communities. A land-owning popu- 
lation of farmers is an element of strength and sta- 
bility to any nation. No people are more tenacious 
defenders of personal rights than are the agriculturists 
who cultivate their own acres; hence this class of land- 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 267 

owners should be encouraged. In some States the pro- 
portion of farm tenants to farm owners has increased, 
and has even reached the point where more than half 
the farmers do not own their land. Many remedies 
have been proposed, including : ( 1 ) a State land settle- 
ment commission, (2) equalization of taxes as between 
used and unused land, (3) State encouragement of co- 
operation among the farmers, and (4) rural credits. 

The American farmer has not enjoyed equal oppor- 
tunities with the city business man to borrow money 
for carrying on his undertakings. In 191 6 the Federal 
Farm Loan Act provided for the organization of Na- 
tional Farm Loan Associations in various parts of the 
country as cooperative associations with the purpose 
of making loans to farmers. These institutions have 
already aided in the agricultural development of the 
nation. The amount of money which the federal asso- 
ciations have loaned amounts to not much over three 
hundred million dollars. A greater expansion of rural 
credit is needed; and some States, notably the Da- 
kotas, have adopted liberal legislation on this subject. 

For Further Reading 

The Types of Local Government. — J. A. Fairlie, 
Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, ch. 
i-iii; James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, ch. 
xlviii; W. B. Munro, Government of the United States, 
ch. xxxvii ; H. G. James, Local Government in the United 
States, ch. ii. 

County Government. — J. A. Fairlie, Local Govern- 
ment in Counties, Towns, and Villages, ch: iv-vii ; C. A. 
Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 639-648; 
C. C. Maxey, County Administration of Delaware, ch. 
i ; C. E. Branson, County Government and County Af- 
fairs in North Carolina, pp. 7-40; Bulletins for Massa- 



268 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

chusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917, no. viii, pp. 
36-39; Illinois Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, 
no. xii, pp. 1 007- 1 078; Jesse Macy and K. F. Geiser, 
Government of Iowa, ch. iv; F. D. Boynton, Actual Gov- 
ernment of New York, ch. xii; M. L. Childs, Actual Gov- 
ernment in Illinois, ch. iv; Proceedings of Conference 
for Better County Government in New York State, 
Syracuse, ipi6, pp. 10-15; H. G. James, Local Govern- 
ment in the United States, ch. iii, iv. 

County Charter Government. — H. S. Gilbertson, 
The County, pp. 207-246; C S. Childs, Ramshackle 
County Government (pamphlet issued by the National 
Short Ballot Association, 8 West Ninth Street, New York 
City). 

The Township. — J. A. Fairlie, Local Government in 
Counties, Towns, and Villages, ch. viii-xi ; W. B. Munro, 
Government in the United States, ch. xxxix ; C. A. Beard, 
American Government and Politics, pp. 649-654; Jesse 
Macy and K. F. Geiser, Government of Iowa, ch. iii; 
M. F. Childs, Actual Government in Illinois, ch. iii; F. D. 
Boynton, Actual Government of New York, ch. iii; H. G. 
James, Local Government in the United States, ch. v; 
C. R. Aurner, History of Township Government in Iowa, 
ch. v-xvi. 

Poor Relief and Care of Defectives. — J. L. Gillin, 
History of Poor Relief Legislation in Iowa, ch. vii-ix, 
xviii. 

State Supervision. — J. A. Fairlie, Local Govern- 
ment in Counties, Towns, and Villages, ch. xii-xv ; E. C. 
Branson, County Government and County Affairs in 
North Carolina, pp. 1 14-133; Illinois Constitutional Con- 
vention Bulletins, 1920, no. xii, pp. 1054-1055. 

Farm Tenancy and Rural Credits. — Illinois Con- 
stitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 1084-1120; 
T. N. Carver, Principles of Rural Economics, pp. 275- 
282; E. G. Nourse, Agricultural Economics, ch, xiv; 
M. T. Herrick, Rural Credits, ch. xxxii. 



CHAPTER XIII 
CITY GOVERNMENT 

During the past century there has been a remark- 
able growth in the size of cities, both in Europe and 
America. A hundred years ago England had a com- 
paratively large urban population, but America, 
France, and Germany were predominantly rural. In 
the nineteenth century the urban development in each 
of these countries was conspicuously great, but par- 
ticularly so in Germany and America. England still 
leads in urban development. The United States ranks 
second. 

In 1790 there were only seven cities of 8,000 in- 
habitants in America — Philadelphia, New York, Bos- 
ton, Charleston, Baltimore, Salem, and Newport. 
Ninety-five per cent of our 3,929,625 people then lived 
in the country or in the small towns. During the fol- 
lowing hundred and thirty years many new cities were 
built and older cities grew with astonishing rapidity. 
In 1920 there were nearly a thousand cities of 8,000 
or more inhabitants ; and nearly one half of our popu- 
lation lived in them. New York had a population of 
5,621,151; Chicago of 2,701,705; and Philadelphia, 
1,823,158. 

Reasons for the growth of American cities. — 
The reasons for this sudden growth in American cities 
are not difficult to find. The old saying that "God 
made the country and man made the town" suggests 
one of the explanations for urban growth. Cities are 

269 



270 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

centers of human energy, storehouses of human cul- 
ture and learning, the home of libraries, museums, art 
galleries, universities, and music, and consequently 
they attract thousands of aspiring young men and 
women from the countrysides. Some cities grow apace 
because of political reasons, being State capitals or 
county seats. Other cities which are strategically lo- 
cated on the highways of commerce, like New York, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and San Fran- 
cisco or New Orleans, Memphis, Saint Louis and 
Minneapolis, are built up through the activities of rail- 
way transportation and shipping. Cities are also busi- 
ness centers and distributing points. Factories are 
often located in urban districts, and wherever factories 
exist large numbers of laborers are needed. Finally, 
hordes of immigrants have in late years settled down 
in the cities rather than spread out into the country. 
According to the United States census of 1920, a 
large percentage of the population of the cities of 
25,000 and upward are foreign-born. In Chicago 
this percentage reached 29 per cent; in New York 
35 per cent; in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 40 
per cent. Many of our cities are melting-pots for the 
Americanization of races from every corner of the 
earth. Of New York City some one has said that it 
contains "more Irishmen than Dublin, more Italians 
than Padua, more Germans than Potsdam, and more 
Jews than Jerusalem.' , Foreigners congregate in cities 
partly because they can more easily find employment 
in the factories, partly because farm work is distaste- 
ful to a large part of the immigrants, and partly for 
social reasons. The immigrant who speaks no other 
tongue than his native language desires to settle among 
people who have come from his fatherland. Hence 



CITY GOVERNMENT 271 

large colonies of Italians, Russians, Greeks, Poles, 
Lithuanians, and Armenians have accumulated in our 
cities. 

ORGANIZATION OF CITY GOVERNMENT 

The city is a local unit within the government of the 
State. Technically speaking, the American city is a 
municipal corporation created by authority of the 
State. In all except a few commonwealths the city is 
largely subject to the State legislature which grants its 
charter, establishes its form of government, and limits 
its powers. Cities are subordinate governments. For 
convenience a large measure of municipal administra- 
tion is left in the hands of the city, but the State has 
the constitutional right to restrict or enlarge any func- 
tion of the city government. 

The city and the State. — Complaints are often 
made against State control of municipalities. It is 
true that in most commonwealths cities do not have 
representation in the legislatures proportional with that 
of the rural districts. Consequently, urban representa- 
tion is frequently outvoted, and rural minorities some- 
times impose conditions upon cities which are injurious 
or unsuitable. At the same time there are a large num- 
ber of purely city problems, like paving and lighting 
the streets, which do not concern the rural constituen- 
cies, and which the city is best fitted to determine. 
Hence there has been a strong demand on the part of 
many cities for municipal home rule or political au- 
tonomy. 

On the other hand there are reasons why the State 
governments should not relinquish ultimate control 
over the cities. Many functions of the cities cannot 
be discharged without affecting the State. For ex- 



272 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ample, in Massachusetts the competition between the 
cities for water reservoirs required the intervention of 
the commonwealth. In inland cities the disposal of 
sewage into the rivers may require the regulation of 
the State. The jurisdiction of the State also overlaps 
that of the city in the administration of justice, the 
arrest of criminals, the care of the insane and mental 
defectives, and the safeguarding of public health. 
Complete municipal home rule would be unwise. 

The constitutional basis of a city government is the 
charter. A municipal charter is the fundamental law 
of the city, creating its form of government and grant- 
ing its powers. Charters are granted by authority of 
the State legislature. In granting charters four meth- 
ods have been followed, (i) In the nineteenth cen- 
tury most States used the general charter system, 
whereby the legislature granted the same form of 
charter to every incorporated city. This method is 
now being abandoned as not adapted to meet the needs 
of cities varying in size, population, and peculiar con- 
ditions. (2) The classified charter plan prescribes char- 
ters for cities of differing sizes. (3) The optional 
plan prescribes several forms of charters which may 
be selected at liberty by any city. (4) The special 
charter plan treats each city as a special problem; a 
different charter being drafted for each. (5) The 
home-rule plan has been adopted by fifteen States. 
Under this plan each municipality is permitted to draft 
its own charter, subject to the State constitution and 
general laws. The optional plan, as used in the State 
of New York, appears to be a satisfactory compromise 
between local autonomy and State control. 

Three types of city government. — In the begin- 
ning of American history our cities were governed 



CITY GOVERNMENT 273 

like the English boroughs by a mayor and council 
elected by a small number of voters or freemen. As 
our government became more democratic the muni- 
cipal suffrage was extended. Changes also occurred 
in the form of government. There are at present three 
types of municipal organization : ( 1 ) the mayor-and- 
council system, (2) the commission form, and (3) the 
city-manager plan. 

The mayor - and - council system. — Under the 
mayor-and-council system the mayor is head of the 
administration, and the council is the city's legislature. 
The mayor is generally elected from the city at large. 
The aldermen or members of the city council are 
elected from wards or districts into which the city is 
divided. 

Chicago may serve as an example of the mayor-and- 
council type of government. The city is divided into 
thirty-five wards, and two aldermen are elected from 
each ward. The term of office is two years ; one alder- 
man is elected annually from each ward. 1 The acts 
of the council are called ordinances. The city coun- 
cil of Chicago has very extensive powers. ( 1 ) It has 
control of finances. The budget is framed annually, 
and the council levies taxes to meet the expenditures. 
(2) The council grants all franchises or concessions 
to build and operate street car lines, telegraphs, tele- 
phones, and gas and electric plants. It also has control 
of public utilities and has power to regulate the rates 
charged for gas, electric light, and telephone service, 
subject to review, however, by the Illinois Commerce 
Commission. (3) The council has the right to create, 



!ln 1920 the voters of Chicago approved a plan which goes into effect in 1923 
whereby the city is divided into fifty wards, and each ward is to be represented 
by one alderman. 



274 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

abolish, reorganize, and define the duties of most of 
the administrative offices and departments. The mayor, 
the treasurer, and the city clerks are elected by popular 
election and their offices may not be abolished by the 
council. Likewise the civil service commission, election 
commissioners, board of local improvements, school 
board and library board are provided by statute and 
may not be abolished; but all other departments are 
under the control of the city council. 

The mayor is the administrative head of the city, 
and he also presides over the sessions of the council. 
He is chosen by popular vote for a term of four years. 
He has the power to veto all ordinances passed by the 
council and he may even veto separate items in the 
budget. His veto, however, may be overridden by a 
two-thirds vote of the council. The mayor has di- 
rective control of the administrative departments. He 
appoints the heads of the departments (excepting the 
election commissioners) with the approval of the coun- 
cil. 

There are fourteen principal executive departments. 
The most important are : the Finance Department ; the 
Department of Public Works ; the Police Department ; 
the Health Department; the Law Department; the 
Building Department; the Department of Electricity, 
which operates a small municipal electric light-plant; 
and the Fire Department. Besides these departments 
there are more than a dozen boards or commissions 
which are a part of the city administration. The Board 
of Local Improvements, appointed by the mayor, must 
pass upon all proposals for street improvements before 
the council may order such improvements to be made, 
and it supervises the special assessment by which these 
improvements are financed. The mayor also appoints 



CITY GOVERNMENT 275 

the Civil Service Commission; and, since a large pro- 
portion of the city employees are under the merit 
system, this commission has an important function to 
perform. The Board of Election Commissioners, ap- 
pointed by the county judge, divides the city into pre- 
cincts, appoints election officials, prepares the ballots, 
and supervises the elections. 

Connected with the city government are several other 
substantially independent agencies having exclusive au- 
thority over their funds, including the Board of Educa- 
tion, the Library Board, and the Directors of the 
Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. These boards are 
organized under acts of the State legislature, and the 
members on the boards are appointed for definite terms 
by the mayor with the consent of the council. The 
Trustees of the Sanitary District of Chicago likewise 
have no legal connection with the city of Chicago. 
This board consists of nine trustees elected by popular 
vote. It has charge of the great drainage canal. 
Finally it should be noted that the park administration 
of Cook County and Chicago is complicated. The 
entire county comprises the Forest Preserve District 
controlled by the board of county commissioners serv- 
ing in a separate legal capacity. The city of Chicago 
includes three large park districts and fourteen small 
ones. Two of the large parks are administered by 
boards appointed by the Governor, and the third one 
is administered by a board appointed by the circuit 
judges of Cook County. The local governments of 
Chicago and Cook County are said to be the most 
complex array of local authorities in the world. Within 
Cook County there are 392 separate units of govern- 
ment and 2,557 officials elected by popular vote ! This 
lack of consolidation and simplification is the cause of 



2j6 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

conflicts of jurisdiction and adds to the cost of govern- 
ment. 
Defects of the mayor-and-council system. — 

In his American Commonwealth , James Bryce has said 
that "the government of cities is the one conspicuous 
failure of the United States." Unfortunately, there is 
much truth in this statement, although the management 
of our cities has greatly improved since the time that 
Lord Bryce made his observation. As compared with 
English and German municipalities, American cities 
have been grossly misgoverned. Indeed, few large 
American cities have escaped the blight of such graft- 
ers as the Tweed Ring in New York and the Gas Ring 
in Philadelphia. 

One of the chief faults of the mayor-and-council 
system is the opportunity which it affords for the 
growth of political "machines" like Tammany Hall in 
New York and the Thompson-Lundin "machine" in 
Chicago. The division of the city into numerous wards 
and the election of a large council promotes "boss" 
rule and "machine" politics. A city is an administra- 
tive unity. Civic life tends to be centralized; for in- 
stance, the leading newspapers are published for city- 
wide circulation and are not limited to the circulation 
of one ward. But the mayor-and-council system tends 
to break up this unity. Chicago has a council of sev- 
enty members elected from thirty-five wards; New 
York has a Board of Aldermen elected from sixty- 
seven aldermanic districts, and the board also includes 
the president who is elected at large together with the 
presidents of the five boroughs. It is difficult for the 
reformers and the newspapers to detect the responsi- 
bility for graft and corruption in these large numbers; 
and after detection it is still more difficult to organize 



CITY GOVERNMENT 277 

an opposition to the dishonest aldermen and to defeat 
them at the polls. There are too many wards and too 
many elected aldermen. The public cannot bear in 
mind the names of even a few of them, much less re- 
member which ones are honest and efficient and which 
ones are dishonest and spoilsmen. Accordingly, there 
has appeared a strong demand that responsibility in 
city government be fixed upon a few officials whom the 
public may more readily know by name. Two new 
types of city government, the commission form of gov- 
ernment and the city-manager plan, meet this demand. 
The commission form of government. — The com- 
mission form of city government was adopted by 
Galveston, Texas, in 1901, as the result of a great 
tragedy. In September, 1900, a tidal wave swept in 
from the Gulf, drowning six thousand people, destroy- 
ing a large portion of the city, and demoralizing its 
economic organization. Previously Galveston had 
been one of our worst governed cities. The city debt 
was enormous, the tax rate was high, and political 
plunderers wasted and mismanaged the public funds. 
After the disaster the bonds of the city fell to sixty 
cents on the dollar, and the problem of reconstruction 
appeared to be so great that many persons abandoned 
the city. A group of citizens who held real estate in 
Galveston, however, resolved to take stern measures to 
save the city. They asked the legislature to place the city 
virtually in a receivership, to abolish the old city gov- 
ernment and to establish a commission of five business- 
men temporarily to rule the city. The legislature 
granted this request, and the result of the political ex- 
periment more than justified the hopes of the pro- 
moters. After the rebuilding of the city the citizens 
kept the commission plan permanently. Other Texas 



278 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

cities applied to the legislature for similar charters, in- 
cluding Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Austin,- and Fort 
Worth. The movement spread to other States. In 
1907 Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, adopted the plan. 
By 1920 more than five hundred towns and cities had 
adopted the commission form of government. 

Under the Galveston charter the five commissioners 
are elected every two years by popular vote. The 
mayor-president is designated by the commission and 
presides over the commission. He has no veto power. 
The commission is both an executive and a legislative 
body. It passes all ordinances, levies taxes, appropri- 
ates money, and grants franchises by majority vote. 
It also directs the administration of its own ordinances. 
There are four departments : ( 1 ) Finance and 
Revenue, (2) Water and Sewerage, (3) Police and 
Fire Protection, and (4) Streets and Public Property. 
A member of the commission is at the head of each 
of these departments. The mayor-president is not 
assigned to any department, but exercises a coordinat- 
ing influence over all of them. The commission meets 
at stated times for the transaction of public business 
very much like the board of directors of a large cor- 
poration. Each commissioner is directly responsible 
for the conduct of one department. Appointments to 
the higher offices in each department are made by the 
commission ; appointments to the minor posts are made 
by the commissioner in charge. 

Not all cities which have adopted the commission 
form of city government have followed the details of 
the Galveston charter. Some cities permit the mayor- 
president and the commissioners to be recalled by popu- 
lar vote, and some cities have adopted a system of 
initiative and referendum. But the essential feature 



CITY GOVERNMENT 



279 



is maintained, namely, the replacement of the mayor- 
and-council system by a commission which is expected 
to govern the city in a businesslike manner. There 
has also been an improvement in the process of nomi- 
nation for office. In some cities old party tactics are 
eliminated and nonpartisan primaries substituted. 

The patriotic American who resents the unfavorable 
comparison of our city government with the English 
and German systems will find a measure of consolation 
in the fact that the commission form of government is 
really a return to the original method of governing 
American cities. The American city council at an 
early period in our history was a small body of men 
serving the city as both legislature and executive. The 
separation of powers, and the multiplication of the 
members of our city councils proved disastrous to good 
government. The commission plan is an improvement 
even upon the original council inasmuch as the com- 
missioners are not elected from separate wards, but 
from the city at large. Power and responsibility are 
thus centralized in a small group of men whom the 
public may come to know very intimately. Criticism 
may be effectively directed against unfaithful or un- 
worthy officials and praise may be bestowed upon the 
deserving. Under this system city government no 
longer remains in the obscurity created by a multitude 
of public officials of small responsibility. Decent 
public opinion has an opportunity to act and to act 
effectively. 

The city-manager plan. — Another step in the re- 
form of city government is the city-manager plan. The 
city of Dayton, Ohio, adopted this plan partly as the 
result of a great catastrophe. In March, 19 13, Dayton 
was overwhelmed by a flood which poured down the 



2 8o AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Miami River. A commission of fifteen citizens was 
elected, in accordance with the Ohio constitution, to 
draft a new city charter. They proposed the city- 
manager plan, and the people accepted it. The plan had 
already been adopted as early as 1908, by the small 
town of Staunton, Virginia; but Dayton was the first 
large city to adopt it. 

The Dayton charter provides that the entire control 
of the administration of the city shall be in the hands 
of a city-manager. His duty is to govern the city in 
a businesslike manner. He is appointed for no definite 
term, but he may be removed at any time by a majority 
vote of the city-commission. This body is composed 
of five members elected at large for four years, but 
any member may be recalled by petition and popular 
vote after six months of service. Nominations are 
made at a nonpartisan primary, and the ballots at the 
election bear no party names. All municipal powers, 
except the control of the public schools and public 
library, are vested in this commission. It passes or- 
dinances by a majority vote, makes the municipal 
budget, and levies taxes. The commission appoints 
the city-manager, who in turn appoints all other ad- 
ministrative officers. 

In 1 92 1 there were about two hundred and twenty 
cities and towns which had adopted the city-manager 
plan. Akron and Dayton in Ohio and Grand Rapids 
in Michigan, are the largest cities in the list. Akron 
has a population of more than two hundred thousand. 
In all of these cities the most remarkable result from 
the use of this system is an improvement in municipal 
finances. Under this form of government there has 
been a decrease in current expenditures and a reduction 
of the city debt. The city-manager plan has already 



CITY GOVERNMENT 281 

developed a distinct profession, as the commissions do 
not limit their appointments to residents of the city. 
As a rule, the salaries paid to these officials are high 
when compared with the salaries formerly paid to the 
mayors. Dayton pays $12,500 a year. High salaries, 
however, are no burden in return for efficient manage- 
ment. Chicago pays $245,000 a year, to its seventy 
aldermen, and $18,000 to its mayor. It would be 
economy for the city to have a high-priced city- 
manager. 

CITY ADMINISTRATION AND WELFARE 

City finance. — The financial administration of a 
modern city is a complicated problem, and in recent 
years it has become a problem of vast proportions. 
The budgets of our municipalities have been greatly 
increased by the growth in the expenditures for the 
protection of public health, for parks and boulevards, 
playgrounds, and better schools. In 19 19 the ex- 
penditure of the city of New York was $273,000,000, 
while the total debt of the city reached $1,225,055,569. 
The budget of this city is three times greater than the 
budget of the State of New York. New York City 
spends more money than all the New England States, 
Illinois, Texas, California, and the State of New York 
combined. Its budget exceeds the national budgets of 
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland. 

In raising revenue, cities are restricted by the pro- 
visions of the State constitutions and of their own 
charters. Generally, the rate of taxation is limited to 
a certain percentage of the real and personal properly 
within their boundaries. A limitation is also placed 
upon the indebtedness of municipalities. 

Cities are under the necessity of raising the greater 



282 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

part of their revenue from taxes on real estate (land 
and buildings) and personal property. Taxes are also 
levied upon franchises, banks, mortgages, and licenses 
of pawnbrokers, motion picture theaters, etc. Among 
the items of heavy expenditure are the public schools, 
police department, fire department, municipal courts, 
public charities, street cleaning, public health, hos- 
pitals, water-supply and parks. 

The budget is voted by the council in cities having 
the mayor-and-council system, or by the commission 
in cities having the commission form or the city- 
manager plan. The process of budget making is im- 
portant. Great waste of revenue may be incurred 
through slovenly methods of bookkeeping. In this 
matter American cities have recently made considerable 
progress. It is difficult for the average citizen to find 
out whether or not he is paying too much for light, for 
paving, for water; nor can he readily determine 
whether his taxes are being squandered by spoilsmen. 
In 1906 a group of citizens in New York City founded 
the Bureau of Municipal Research, to examine the 
records of the city, to inform the public as to the de- 
tails of municipal business, and to fix responsibility for 
waste and loss of public funds. This bureau has ac- 
complished much in the way of promoting efficient 
and economical government. 

Police administration. — Society must be protected 
against thieves, robbers, incendiaries, murderers, and 
all kinds of criminals. Furthermore, traffic on the 
congested streets must be regulated and order pre- 
served at mass meetings and other assemblies. To 
keep the peace and to guard the city requires a large 
force of policemen. In most cities the police are under 
the direction of a commissioner, He is usually ap- 



CITY GOVERNMENT 283 

pointed by the mayor, although the single commissioner 
in Boston and four commissioners in Saint Louis are 
appointed by the State Governor. In New York City 
the police commissioner is appointed by the mayor, but 
he may be removed by the Governor. In cities which 
have adopted the commission form of government the 
police and fire departments have been combined in one. 

For administrative purposes cities are divided into 
police precincts with a police station in each. The 
police force is organized in ranks as captains, lieuten- 
ants, sergeants, and patrolmen. In large cities there 
are about two policemen to every one thousand people. 
The service is under a sort of military discipline. Few 
cities have permitted policemen to become members of 
labor unions. Their first allegiance must be to the 
city which they have sworn to protect. In 19 19 the 
police service of Boston went on a strike because the 
commissioner discharged certain members who had 
joined a union. It was necessary to employ the State 
militia to preserve order, but the authorities stood their 
ground and the striking policemen were not reinstated. 

Comparisons are frequently made between the police 
systems of Europe and those of America, to the dis- 
paragement of the latter; but in many respects the 
American police have a more difficult task than the 
European. The great influx of foreign immigrants 
into our cities has made our urban populations more 
heterogeneous than those usually found in European 
cities, and the political "machines" which exist in our 
large cities seriously interfere with the work of the 
police. The maintenance of peace and order in a city 
depends not only upon the police service but also upon 
the efficiency and honesty of the police courts. In many 
cities police magistrates are elected by popular vote; 



284 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

other cities follow the better method of placing the 
appointment of magistrates in the hands of the mayor 
or the Governor of the State. 

Fire protection. — Fire protection is akin to police 
protection, since both pertain to the function of safe- 
guarding life and property. In olden days the cities 
depended upon voluntary associations or fire com- 
panies, and these still exist in our smaller towns. Our 
large cities, however, have developed efficient fire de- 
partments. In this branch of municipal administration 
we surpass European cities; yet even in the United 
States the loss from fire amounts to more than $250,- 
000,000 annually. Quite a number of fires are started 
by persons who attempt in this manner to collect in- 
surance. 

Public works. — The department of public works 
in most cities has charge of streets and highways, 
bridges, sewers, and public buildings. Few people 
realize the great value of such property possessed by a 
city. The streets of the average city amount to one 
fourth or one third of its total area. The work of 
street cleaning and of paving requires much attention. 
Even in the small towns of a thousand inhabitants, 
gravel roads are being replaced by pavements of 
cement, brick, or asphalt. The lighting of streets is 
also a large undertaking; a few cities like Richmond, 
Virginia, own municipal electric plants for street light- 
ing, but, as a rule, this service is supplied by cor- 
porations. 

Public health and sanitation. — The disposal of 
waste and the cleaning of cities demand more attention 
every year. In the modern world the old saying that 
"cleanliness is next to godliness" has come to have a 
very real meaning. In congested populations it is im- 



CITY GOVERNMENT 285 

possible to prevent disease unless constant vigilance is 
used to keep the streets and alleys clear of rubbish and 
refuse, and to dispose of the garbage and sewage in 
a scientific manner. In cleanliness the German cities 
have surpassed the American, but in recent years we 
have made improvement. Before Colonel Waring 
took charge of the Street Cleaning Department of New 
York City in 1895, the service was filled with Tam- 
many employees who brushed the pavements in a lazy 
and perfunctory manner. Colonel Waring revolution- 
ized the department; he introduced military methods; 
he dressed the men in white uniforms, organized 
leagues of school children to assist in keeping the 
streets clean, and awakened a genuine civic pride in 
his work. Under his supervision four hundred and 
thirty-three miles of streets were cleaned from once 
to five times every day by an army of two thousand 
five hundred men. 

Most cities have a board of public health. Professor 
Irving Fisher has estimated that there are always three 
million people sick in the United States, representing a 
waste of a billion and a half dollars each year. Tuber- 
culosis alone causes the illness of half a million people. 
By the alertness of the medical profession, many dis- 
eases like malaria have been almost eradicated ; and the 
death rate in other diseases, like typhoid fever, has 
been greatly reduced. The war on disease, however, 
has only begun, and city boards of health have a lead- 
ing part to play in the campaign for public health. 
Among the various activities of these boards should be 
mentioned the inspection of milk supply, analysis of 
water, medical and dental inspection of school chil- 
dren, promotion of "mother leagues" for giving in- 
struction as to the care of infants, establishment of 



2&6 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

public dispensaries to give free medical advice and 
treatment to the poor, and the establishment of hos- 
pitals for contagious diseases and of sanitariums for 
the treatment of tuberculosis. 

Municipal housing. — The enormous cost of build- 
ing materials following the World War increased the 
problem of housing in American cities. For many 
years the slum districts have existed in almost every 
metropolis. Narrow streets are lined with high and 
unsanitary tenements in which families are living hud- 
dled together in two or three small, dark rooms. At- 
tempts to remedy the housing problem in New York 
City were begun as early as 1857. A few model tene- 
ments were erected, but the overcrowding of the East 
Side continued. The destruction of Mulberry Bend as 
described by Jacob Riis is a well-known story. Finally, 
in 1894, a Tenement House Commission was ap- 
pointed. In 1 90 1 a Tenement House Act laid down 
certain requirements to which all new buildings must 
conform. Since this date more than a million and a 
half people have been housed in new tenements. 

In 1920 the problem of rent profiteering became so 
acute in New York City that the Governor of the State 
called a special session of the legislature. Laws were 
passed regulating the eviction of tenants for refusal to 
pay an increase in rent. Under this legislation a land- 
lord who demands a rental which the tenant thinks is 
exorbitant must prove to the satisfaction of a muni- 
cipal court that his demand is just and reasonable 
before the tenant may be evicted. He must file with 
the court a bill of particulars setting forth the number 
of rooms in the house, the rentals, cost of coal, repairs, 
janitorial fees, and general expenses. 

Public recreation and social centers. — The pro- 






CITY GOVERNMENT 287 

motion of healthy and clean public recreation is one of 
the modern means of combating disease, vice, and 
crime. The ordinary human being will quickly respond 
to the stimulus of fresh air, wholesome games, and 
pleasant diversion. Growing children need oppor- 
tunities for play and sports; young men and women 
must have means for pleasant acquaintanceship and 
harmless amusement ; the tired mother requires relaxa- 
tion; the depressed shop-girl, the worried clerk, the 
factory worker, every toiler, must have means for en- 
tertainment and healthy recuperation. It would be 
beyond the limits of this book to describe the numerous 
ways in which American cities have attempted to pro- 
mote public recreation. Every city has a more or less 
extensive park system. New York has invested $684,- 
000,000 in parks and playgrounds; Boston, $69,000,- 
000; Chicago, $59,000,000. Chicago spends $2,000,- 
000 each year in maintaining its parks, which now 
include four thousand acres. A city park may combine 
nature with science and art. Lincoln Park, on the 
north side of Chicago, with its flowers and trees, con- 
tains the Academy of Natural Sciences, and at the 
entrance of the park is the statue of Lincoln by Saint 
Gaudens. 

In many cities whole blocks of buildings have been 
torn down to make municipal playgrounds for children, 
thus taking the little wards of the city off the street 
and out of harm of automobiles. Public baths have 
been established. Cleveland has a municipal bathhouse 
on Lake Erie where a room, bathing suit, and towel 
are supplied for fifteen cents. Municipal dance halls 
and pavilions also have been constructed by Cleveland. 
The city furnishes the music and charges the modest 
sum of three cents for a dance. Social centers are an- 



288 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

other innovation in municipal life. Parent clubs, boys' 
clubs, sewing circles, debating societies, lecture courses, 
study classes, and motion picture theaters have been 
organized by experienced social service workers. In 
most cities the Department of Public Welfare has di- 
rection of municipal activities of this sort. 

Schools and libraries. — Over eighty years ago 
Charles Dickens rendered a great service to mankind in 
picturing the sordid absurdities of primary education. 
To-day the education of children is one of the most im- 
portant functions of local government. The public 
school is a means of preparation for good citizenship. 
Since this preparation is for the future, it is necessary 
that the methods employed be thoroughly modern and 
progressive. As Dr. Colin A. Scott has said : "Not 
only the industrial and business world, but the whole 
life of to-day is quite different from what it was thirty 
or even ten years ago. To be really effective the school 
is forced to idealize the present activities of society, 
and prepare the young for a future world which exists 
only in the minds and hearts of the community. The 
school at its best is a prophecy, as every embryo is a 
prophecy of a better and nobler life." 1 

The public schools of our cities are under control of 
school boards, which are either appointed by the mayor 
or elected by the people. The supervision of the schools 
is a task of large proportions. In most cities from 
one fourth to one third of the municipal expenditures 
are for education. New York City spends about $45,- 
000,000 a year on its public schools; Chicago $16,000,- 
000, Philadelphia $8,000,000, Boston $6,000,000, and 
Los Angeles $6,000,000. Cities have also been gen- 
erous in building public libraries and museums, al- 

iSocial Education (Ginn & Co.), p. 2. 



CITY GOVERNMENT 289 

though in many cases these institutions have also been 
founded and endowed by private benefactors. In Mas- 
sachusetts there is not a single town without a free 
library. 

Poor relief and charity. — Nowhere is the contrast 
between rich and poor more conspicuous than in the 
metropolis. It is true that with the broadening of 
education, the improvement in the means for securing 
industrial justice, and scientific treatment of mental 
defectives, poverty has begun to decrease in the world. 
Nevertheless, large numbers of indigent persons are 
found in our cities. Through misfortune, disease, ac- 
cidents, laziness, viciousness, and desertion of fathers, 
families are sometimes thrown into very tragic circum- 
stances. Many institutions for poor relief, like or- 
phanages, have been established by both public and 
private philanthropic enterprise. In a half hundred 
cities, widows' pension bureaus have been created. The 
tendency at the present time is for private charities to 
combine together in United Charities Associations and 
to cooperate with municipal authorities in relieving the 
distress of the poor. One of the chief functions of 
these organizations of social service is that of teaching 
poor people, many of whom are as ignorant as little 
children of the common rules of health, household 
economy, and the care of children. 

Public utilities. — Another municipal function is 
the regulation of public utilities. The oldest and per- 
haps the most important of these utilities is the water 
supply. Only a few American cities now secure their 
water from private companies; most municipalities 
own and operate their systems of water supply. For 
this purpose large engineering projects have been con- 
structed. Los Angeles draws its supply of water from 



2QO AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada mountains two hun- 
dred and fifty miles north of the city. The conduit 
which carries the water passes through tunnels in the 
mountains and crosses a hundred and fifty miles of the 
Mojave Desert. New York City has constructed a 
reservoir at Croton and another one in the Catskills, 
a hundred miles up the Hudson River, at a cost of 
over $330,000,000. 

Other public utilities operating within the limits of 
a city are the railroads, electric railways, ferries, gas 
and electric plants, telegraph and telephones. Over 
all but the first of these utilities the city may exercise 
a large degree of control. Steam railroads are under 
the jurisdiction of the national or State governments, 
and with them the cities may not, as a rule, interfere. 
Lighting-plants for gas and electricity, street railways 
and telephone services are operated under a franchise 
granted by the municipal or State authorities for a 
certain number of years. A franchise is a contract by 
virtue of which a person or corporation is permitted 
to use the city's streets in distributing certain services 
or commodities to consumers. For these services or 
commodities, of course, a charge is made. A public 
utility is a natural monopoly; and, furthermore, any- 
one attempting to perform a service without the proper 
franchise would be a trespasser and liable to prosecu- 
tion. A franchise is thus a special privilege; and the 
recipient of the franchise is usually required to pay a 
stipulated sum for the privilege granted. In New York, 
Philadelphia, Providence, Richmond, and other cities 
the corporation receiving the franchise is required to 
pay the city five per cent of its gross receipts. Chicago 
receives fifty-five per cent of the net profits of the 
street railways. 



CITY GOVERNMENT 291 

The granting of franchises is limited by State con- 
stitutions and State laws, and municipalities are thus 
restricted in making such grants. Moreover, in some 
States the regulation of all public utilities is in the 
hands of the State rather than in the hands of the 
municipalities. In 1907 the legislature of New York 
created two Public Service Commissions. The State 
was divided into two districts and a commission was 
established in each district. The commissioners have 
control of all corporations operating railroads, street 
surface railways, and telegraph and telephone lines, 
express companies, and all corporations supplying gas 
and electricity for commercial light, heat, and power. 
The commissioners have supervision of the rates 
charged, the equipment provided, and the service ren- 
dered by the companies operating within its limits. 
Wisconsin at the same time placed all public utilities 
under a State commission; Massachusetts had pre- 
viously created three State commissions dealing re- 
spectively with the railroads, gas and electric com- 
panies, and telegraph and telephone companies. In 
States where the State regulation of public utilities has 
not been extensively developed, the cities have muni- 
cipal commissions for supervising the corporations 
operating under franchises. 

Municipal ownership. — Municipal ownership and 
operation of all public utilities has been frequently 
proposed. There can be no doubt that the water supply 
system should be owned and operated by cities because 
of the essential relation between water supply and 
public health. It is not so clear, however, that other 
public utilities ought to be put under the complete 
control of the city. If the service rendered by private 
companies is efficient, if the prices charged are reason- 



292 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

able, there would appear to be small need for burden- 
ing the city with more heavy responsibilities. But if 
the abuses of private ownership cannot be abated by 
adequate regulation, then municipal ownership is a 
necessary resort. 

City planning. — In colonial days American cities, 
although simple and frugal in architecture, possessed a 
dignified beauty. With the rapid material growth of 
the nineteenth century a sordid ugliness spread over 
the land. In recent years there has been a renaissance 
of municipal building. A civic pride has been awakened 
which has led to elaborate projects for the rebuilding 
of our cities. Civic centers have been reconstructed in 
New York, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Richmond, 
Virginia. Springfield, Massachusetts, has constructed 
a remarkable group of municipal buildings on its 
public square in the heart of the city. Between the 
city hall and the city auditorium a campanile of 
beautiful proportions dominates the surrounding 
country. 

For the purpose of relieving taxpayers from the 
heavy burden of municipal reconstruction the principle 
of excess condemnation has been proposed and success- 
fully applied. By this method more land is taken from 
private owners under the right of eminent domain 
than is needed for the actual construction of the pro- 
posed public improvement with the view of selling the 
excess at such increase of value as may result from the 
improvement. It is a well-known fact that the erection 
of a beautiful public building or the construction of 
some other public work will usually enhance the value 
of the surrounding property. It is just and reasonable 
that the city as a whole should have the benefit of this 
enhancement of value and that it should be applied to 



CITY GOVERNMENT 293 

the payment of the improvement. In 1904 Massa- 
chusetts passed a law known as the "Remnant Act" 
authorizing cities to employ the principle of excess 
condemnation. The act has encouraged the develop- 
ment of programs of city planning. 

For Further Reading 

The Growth and Character of the American 
City. — F. G. Goodnow, Municipal Government, ch. i-iii; 
W. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, ch. i, ii; 
F. C. Howe, The City: The Hope of Democracy, ch. i, 
ii ; C. A. Beard, American City Government, ch. i ; D. F. 
Wilcox, Great Cities in America, ch. i. 

The City and the State. — W. B. Munro, Govern- 
ment of American Cities, ch. iii ; F. G. Goodnow, Muni- 
cipal Government, ch. viii ; H. L. McBain, The Law and 
the Practice of Municipal Home Rule, ch. i ; Illinois Con- 
stitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 377-448. 

Municipal Organization. — W. B. Munro, Govern- 
ment of American Cities, ch. viii-x; J. A. Fairlie, Muni- 
cipal Administration, ch. xvii-xix; F. J. Goodnow, 
Municipal Government, ch. ix, x; Municipal Year Book 
of City of New York, 1916, ch. i, ii; Illinois Constitu- 
tional Convention Bulletins, 1920, no. xi; Unification 
of Local Governments in Chicago (Chicago Bureau of 
Public Efficiency), pp. 7-55. 

Mismanagement and Graft in City Government. 
— James Bryce, American Commonwealth, I, ch. Ii ; II, 
ch. lxxxviii; Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities, 
pp. 29-59, 193-229; F. C. Howe, The City: The Hope of 
Democracy, ch. vi, vii ; Josiah Flynt and Francis Walton, 
The Powers that Prey, pp. 1-25. 

The Commission Plan of Government. — W. B. 
Munro, Government of American Cities, ch. xii ; E. S. 
Bradford, Commission Government in American Cities, 
ch. i ; C. R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission, 



294 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

ch. iii, iv; and his New Municipal Program, ch. xiv; 
B. F. Shambaugh, Commission Government in Iowa: 
The Des Moines Plan {Annals Am. Acad, of Pol. and 
Soc. Sci., November, 191 1). 

The City-Manager Plan. — W. B. Munro, Govern- 
ment of American Cities, ch. xv; C. E. Rightor, City 
Manager in Dayton, ch. i-iii; H. A. Toulmin, The City 
Manager, ch. ii-viii; The City Manager Plan for Chi- 
cago (Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, Bulletin 
No. 28). 

City Finance. — W. B. Munro, Principles and Meth- 
ods of Municipal Administration, ch. x, "Making a Muni- 
cipal Budget" (New York Bureau of Municipal Research, 
1907) ; F. A. Cleveland, Municipal Administration and 
Accounting, ch. vi; Financial Statistics of Cities (U. S. 
Bureau of the Census, 1919), pp. 13-27; Henry Bruere, 
The New City Government, ch. vii. 

Police Systems and Problems. — R. B. Fosdick, 
American Police Systems, ch. i, iii-iv; Theodore Roose- 
velt, Autobiography, ch. vi ; William McAdoo, Guarding a 
Great City, ch. xxi ; L. F. Fuld, Police Administration, ch. 
iv; H. M. Pollock and W. S. Morgan, Modem Cities, 
ch. xv ; M. C. Van Winkle, Municipal Policewomen in 
American City (1921), XXXV, pp. 93-96. 

Public Health and Sanitation. — W. B. Munro, 
Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration, 
ch. v; Henry Bruere, The New City Government, ch. xi; 
W. H. Allen, Civics and Health, ch. i-iv; M. M. Davis 
and A. R. Warner, Dispensaries, ch. i-viii; L. H. Gulick 
and L. P. Ayres, Medical Inspection of Schools, ch. i-v ; 
Report of the Department of Health of Chicago, 1911- 
1918, pp. 3-13; H. P. Hemenway, Legal Principles of 
Public Health Administration, ch. i, ii; H. N. Parker, 
City Milk Supply, ch. vi. 

Municipal Housing. — C. A. Beard, American City 
Government, ch. xi ; F. C. Howe, The Modern City and 
Its Problems, ch. xix; J. A. Riis, The Battle with the 



CITY GOVERNMENT 295 

Slum, ch. i-iii; Art. on "Housing" in American Year 
Book, 1920. 

Public Recreation and Social Centers. — Charles 
Zueblin, American Municipal Progress, ch. xiv, xvi ; Ed- 
ward J. Ward, The Social Center, ch. viii. 

Schools and Libraries. — S. T. Dutton and David 
Sneddon, Administration of Public Education in the 
United States, ch. vii-x; Statistics of City School Sys- 
tems, 1917 (U. S. Bureau of Education), pp. 123-141 ; 
A. Flexner and F. P. Bachman, The Gary Schools, ch. 
i-xi; A. E. Bostwick, The American Public Library, 
ch. i-iv; T. W. Koch, Book of Carnegie Libraries, ch. 
v, vi. 

Public Utilities. — D. F. Wilcox, Municipal Fran- 
chises, I, ch. i ; O. L. Pond, Treatise on the Law of Pub- 
lic Utilities, ch. i, vii; National Civic Federation Report, 
1907, I, part ii, pp. 665-758 ; C. A. Beard, American City 
Government, ch. vii; H. L. McBain, American City 
Progress and the Law, ch. vi; R. P. Porter, Dangers of 
Municipal Ownership {Public Ownership League of 
America), ch. i; General Statistics of Cities, 191 5 (U. S. 
Bureau of the Census), pp. 41-47- 

City Planning. — C. M. Robinson, Improvement of 
Town and Cities, ch. i-iii, xiii ; and his City Planning, ch. 
iv ; John Nolen, City Planning, ch. vi ; and his Replanning 
Small Cities, pp. 9-30; Charles S. Bird, Town Planning 
for Small Communities, ch. i-ii ; F. N. Evans, Town Im- 
provement, ch. i-iii; Frank Koester, Modern City Plan- 
ning and Maintenance, ch. iii. 

Excess Condemnation. — H. L. McBain, American 
City Progress and the Law, ch. v. ; R. E. Cushman, Ex- 
cess Condemnation, ch. i ; Illinois Constitutional Conven- 
tion Bulletins, 1920, pp. 455"5 I 3- 



CHAPTER XIV 

TENDENCIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
OUR GOVERNMENT 

Government is a developing organism. Progress 
in government-growth is comparatively slow. Even 
now great changes are going on in our constitutions 
and in the scope and forms of our State and national 
governmental activities. Living as we do in the midst 
of these changes, they seem to us a very natural and 
even necessary evolution, and we designate such 
changes as reforms. But if the men who framed our 
national constitution in 1787 could return to earth, 
they would be astonished at the variety and extent of 
these transformations and would, no doubt, pronounce 
them revolutionary. 

TENDENCIES REVEALED BY THESE CHANGES 

In no instance, however, has any change in our 
American government been the result of a successful 
rebellion. All such developments in our organic law 
and in the scope or form of governmental activities 
have been brought about by constitutional methods, 
and have appealed to the majority of our people as 
being right and necessary, or, at least, the best avail- 
able solution of some new problem. Thus our govern- 
ment has grown into something very different from 
what it was at first, but this development has for the 
most part been along the lines laid down in our na- 
tional constitution. 

The instinct of liberty. — In general, it may be 
296 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 297 

said that back of all the changes and reforms in our 
American government is the fundamental human in- 
stinct of liberty, and, we may add to this the Anglo- 
Saxon instinct for ordered liberty, or "liberty under 
the law." No impartial student of American history 
will ignore or belittle the importance of the intense de- 
sire for civil and religious liberty that impelled Pil- 
grims and Puritans, Quakers and Catholics, to seek 
homes in a new land where such liberty could be 
possible. The growth of the spirit of liberty in the 
colonists, their stout resistance to every form of 
tyranny from without, their passion for self-govern- 
ment as voiced in the Declaration of Independence, 
their safeguards of individual freedom written into 
the fundamental law of their new nation, "dedicated to 
liberty," as Abraham Lincoln said — all this has pro- 
foundly influenced the development of our govern- 
ment. Appeals to this principle are the stock argu- 
ments of all advocates of government reforms, 
whatever they may be. 

Overthrow of political adventurers. — The second 
tendency revealed by the study of the changes in our 
government is the effort of the people to protect them- 
selves from the domination of a minority composed of 
selfish, shrewd, and unprincipled men who seek to con- 
trol the government for personal gain. The advent of 
democracy has not greatly changed human nature. 
Greed, graft, bribery, and corruption may flourish in 
democracies as in monarchies, and eternal war must be 
waged in every community against the power of cor- 
rupt "bosses" and "machines" who seek to use our 
legislatures to serve private interests, to paralyze the 
enforcement of law, and to corrupt our courts of jus- 
tice. 



298 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

Economic and social evolution. — The third ten- 
dency that has helped to shape the development of our 
government is due to economic and social causes. No 
man in 1787 could have dreamed of the marvelous 
development in our industrial life that a century and a 
third has wrought. In 1790, when our first census 
was taken, the land area of the United States was 
820,377 square miles. Our population was 3,929,214. 
There were only three banks. One dollar in silver 
was worth sixty-five dollars in Continental currency. 
The appropriation made by Congress for the Depart- 
ment of State was $6,500. Travel was by boat or on 
horseback. There were few good roads, fewer bridges, 
no railroads, steamboats, telegraphs. It took Washing- 
ton seven days to learn from New York that he had 
been chosen President. There were only seventy-five 
post offices. The use of coal was practically unknown 
and iron was little mined. The total value of our ex- 
ports was $20,000,000. Only one hundred and three 
newspapers were published. Ninety per cent of the 
people lived by agriculture, and the entire wealth of 
the nation was only $500,000,000. That a plan of 
government devised for a nation so insignificant as 
compared with the nation of to-day should, with so 
few additional amendments, prove to be broad enough 
and elastic enough to fit our present conditions is one 
of the marvels of history. Hence we see that the ten- 
dency of the American people to expand our govern- 
mental activities from year to year in order to meet 
new economic and social conditions is a very natural 
one. 

All these tendencies operate together. — It is clear 
that all these tendencies work simultaneously in 
producing changes in our government. Sometimes it 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 299 

may be possible to distinguish a certain tendency as 
the dominant one in bringing about a specific result, 
but as a rule, no such separation is possible. For ex- 
ample, it is probably true that the most powerful single 
influence in the adoption of the Woman Suffrage 
Amendment to the national constitution was the in- 
stinctive feeling of the majority of the voters that the 
disfranchisement of women was not consistent with 
the principles of liberty on which a democracy should 
be based. On the other hand, no one will deny that 
many social and economic changes in American life 
contributed to the cause of woman suffrage. 

REACTION AGAINST MACHINE RULE 

When our American democracy began its course, 
prophets of evil foretold the dangers that confronted 
it and the ruin that was sure to overtake it. While, 
happily, most of these prophecies have failed, we real- 
ize to-day better than we once did the "perils of democ- 
racy/' and its failure to establish the Utopia described 
in glowing terms by the apostles of popular govern- 
ment. Chief among the evils that have threatened 
the existence of democratic institutions in America has 
been the domination of corrupt "bosses" and their 
"machines," which we have mentioned in previous 
pages. In the attempt to mitigate the effects of ma- 
chine rule, several reforms have been proposed, includ- 
ing: (1) direct legislation, (2) the recall, (3) the 
Australian ballot, (4) the primaries, (5) the short 
ballot, and (6) nonpartisan voting in city elections. 
The first four of these reforms have already been 
extensively adopted without much change in our politi- 
cal conditions. More is hoped for the last two methods. 

Direct legislation.— There are two kinds of direct 



3 oo AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

legislation employed by almost one half of the States 
of the Union. These are the initiative and referendum. 
The former is a means of popular proposal of legisla- 
tion, and the latter is a provision permitting (or in 
some cases requiring) a popular vote upon a legislative 
measure before it becomes finally effective. In gen- 
eral, it may be said that these attempts to substitute 
the direct rule of the people for representative govern- 
ment are evidence of the profound distrust of the 
voters in the ability and honesty of our legislative as- 
semblies. In a preceding chapter we have discussed 
the initiative and referendum as now used in a large 
number of States, and we have seen that its adoption 
has tended to weaken the responsibility of the legis- 
lators to the electorate. Of course the referendum is 
necessary for the ratification of proposed amendments 
to the State constitutions, and a provision for this 
purpose exists in nearly every State. A constitution is 
fundamental law, and a direct vote of the people is re- 
quired to modify it. By the same token, however, the 
enactment of legislative acts belongs to the legislature, 
and the use of the initiative and referendum for legis- 
lative purposes tends to break down the distinction 
between constitutional and statutory law. 

With the exception of the use of the initiative and 
referendum in constitution-making, the recent attempts 
at direct legislation are not logical. They are in a 
measure a return to pure democracy and an abandon- 
ment of the principle of representative government. 
In some small Swiss cantons direct legislation has 
worked well, but to apply it completely to large democ- 
racies is impossible, while modified forms of direct 
legislation tend to destroy the responsibility which 
should be demanded of legislators and executives. 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 301 

The recall. — The recall is a device whereby a duly 
elected or appointed official may be deprived of his 
office by a popular vote. Oregon adopted the recall in 
1908. Ten other States have followed her lead, 
although in four of these States the law does not apply 
to judges. In a number of States the recall has been 
applied to the commission form of city government. 
In some States a newly elected official is not subject 
to recall during the first six months or first year 
of his term of office. 

The process of securing the recall of a public officer 
is to circulate a petition for such action. This petition 
must be signed by from ten to twenty-five per cent of 
the number of votes cast at the last election. When 
such a petition has been secured it is presented to the 
Secretary of State for examination. If he certifies it 
as correct, it is submitted to the Governor, who must 
call an election within a certain prescribed time to de- 
cide whether the officer named in the petition shall be 
deprived of his office. 

The recall, if not applied to judges, has much to 
recommend it. In the commission-plan of city govern- 
ment, where power is concentrated in the hands of a 
few officials, the recall is a very satisfactory safeguard 
of the public interest. Moreover, a State is sometimes 
embarrassed through the lack of any provision for the 
removal of officers save by impeachment, which is a 
slow process when the legislature does not meet every 
year. 

The Australian ballot. — Before 1888 the printing 
of ballots and their distribution to the voters was left 
to the parties or the candidate. There was thus a lack 
of secrecy in voting and bribery was facilitated. In 
1888 Kentucky passed a law providing for the use of 



302 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the Australian ballot in the municipal elections of 
Louisville. In a short time every State adopted this 
system for all elections — municipal, State, presidential, 
and congressional elections. The main features of the 
Australian ballot system have been summarized by 
Professor Ray as follows : 

(i) All ballots are printed under the super- 
vision of public officials, at public expense, and 
are transmitted by these officials to the different 
voting places a certain number of hours before 
election. 

(2) The names of all candidates duly nomi- 
nated by any political party or independent 
group are usually printed on a single sheet hav- 
ing an official endorsement on the back, to pre- 
vent counterfeiting. 

(3) A voter can secure a ballot only from the 
regular election officials after entering the 
polling place on election day, and after having 
properly complied with all the preliminary 
registration requirements. Sample ballots, on 
colored paper, are usually provided in sufficient 
quantities, so that voters may become familiar 
with the names on the ballot before entering 
the voting place. Such sample ballots are al- 
ways posted in or near the voting places and in 
other public places. In case a voter spoils his 
ballot he may return it to the election officer, 
who cancels it, and thereupon gives the voter a 
new ballot. Usually a voter is limited to three 
ballots. 

(4) Cards of instruction containing direc- 
tions for marking a ballot, and other cards con- 
taining the penalties for infraction of the elec- 
tion laws, are often posted not only in and about 
the voting places, but conspicuously in other 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 303 

places a certain number of days before the day 
of election. . . . 

(5) Ballots must be marked in absolute se- 
crecy within the voting booths with which 
every voting place is equipped. Having marked 
his ballot, the voter is required to fold it so that 
all the marks shall be concealed, and either to 
deposit it himself in the ballot-box or hand it to 
the officer in charge for deposit ; this done, the 
voter is expected to leave the polling place at 
once. Australian ballot laws all provide that a 
voter shall not place any mark upon his ballot 
by which it may be identified. In New York, 
ballots found to have marks upon them which 
seem intended for the identification of the 
voter are excluded from the final count. . . . 

(6) Many, if not all, of the Australian bal- 
lot laws include provisions whereby voters who 
declare their inability to mark their ballots 
themselves may receive assistance. In some 
States the voter is required to make oath to his 
inability to read the names on the ballot, or to 
his physical inability to mark his ballot, before 
assistance will be permitted, and even then the 
assistance must be given by one of the duly au- 
thorized election officers. 1 

The adoption of the Australian ballot system has 
reduced the facility for fraud and bribery in elections, 
although it has not caused the elimination of these evils 
from American politics; The voting-machine, adopted 
in some States, is a mechanical device which makes no 
radical departure from the system of the secret ballot 
already existing. 

The primary. — Another reform designed to secure 

1 Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics (Scribners), p. 324.. } 



304 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the election ol public officials who truly represent the 
people is the direct primary. This method as applied 
to State elections has been adopted in almost every 
State of the Union. Previously the nomination of 
candidates was in the hands of party conventions or 
party caucuses. The primary, as now in operation, is 
a party election at which candidates for nomination 
are chosen directly by the party voters. 

Any person desiring to stand as a candidate for a 
political party in the coming elections is required to 
secure a certain number of signatures to a petition 
which must be filed with the proper official (the Sec- 
retary of State in State elections) upon a given date 
previous to the primary election. On the day of the 
primary election the names of all such candidates ap- 
pear upon the official ballot of their parties. At the 
polls each voter receives the ballot of the party to 
which he belongs, and indicates on the ballot the 
names of the persons whom he wishes to be nominated 
for his party. In case the voter is not satisfied with 
the names printed on the ballot he may write the names 
of any candidates that he prefers. When the polls are 
closed the ballots are counted as at the ordinary elec- 
tions, and the name of the person having the highest 
number of votes is declared to be the officially nomi- 
nated candidate of his party. His name will then be 
printed on the official ballot at the regular election 
which occurs at a later date. 

There are two kinds of primaries — the closed and 
the open primaries. In a heated campaign voters are 
sometimes tempted to participate in the primary of 
another party in order to foist a weak candidate on 
that party. Consequently, a number of States have 
found it necessary to provide some method of deter- 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 305 

mining a person's right to affiliate with a party and to 
vote in a primary election. Under the New York law 
a voter declares his party affiliation when he registers 
as a qualified voter, and a record is kept of his declara 
tion. Thereafter a voter cannot change his party af- 
filiation unless he has refrained from participating in 
the primary of his former party for one year, nor can 
he vote in the primary of his new party in the year of 
enrollment, since the affiliation becomes effective only 
in the ensuing year. Such restrictions, of course, en- 
courage loyalty to the political machines. The Massa- 
chusetts law is more lenient to the independent voter, 
who may change his enrollment at any time during the 
year by presenting a request for the change in writing 
to the election officials, the change becoming effective 
ninety days after the request is filed. 

Wisconsin and a number of other States have open 
primaries. There are no tests for party membership. 
At the primary elections each voter is given ballots of 
all the parties printed on separate sheets. He votes 
the ballot for one party only, which ballot is then 
placed in the ballot box. The unused ballots are 
placed in the "blank-ballot box." The open primaries 
are subject to abuse in campaigns which are closely 
contested; sometimes a corrupt machine is able to 
eliminate an aggressive reformer in its own party by 
bribing members of other parties to vote in its pri- 
mary. 

The purpose of the adoption of the primary system 
was to strike at the political machine and at the control 
of politics by professional politicians. The reform, 
however, has not met the expectations of its advocates. 
It has very greatly increased the expense of candidates 
in running for office, and this fact is a very regrettable 



306 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

feature of any nominating system. It has required 
elaborate preliminary election campaigns for the so- 
licitation of petitions, and for winning the primaries; 
and, on the whole, it has complicated our political ma- 
chinery. It has also weakened the responsibility which 
should be attached to political parties seeking to control 
the government. In 1909 Mr. Hughes as Governor 
of New York proposed an improvement in the direct 
primary. His bill provided that candidates for nomi- 
nation should be proposed by the standing committee 
of each party, and published at a stated time before 
the primary elections. If a certain number of the party 
voters were dissatisfied with the nomination of the 
organization, they might petition for rival candidates 
whose names would appear on the primary ballots. 
Governor Hughes' plan avoided the need of resorting 
to party conventions, which the people rightly have 
come to distrust; but at the same time it imposed a 
wholesome responsibility upon the chiefs of the party, 
and gave the rank and file of the party an opportunity 
to dissent. The legislature of New York in 191 1 
adopted Governor Hughes' scheme in a garbled form. 
The names of the nominees of the party committees are 
printed on the primary ballots in a column headed by 
the party emblem with a circle for voting the straight 
ticket. On the other hand the names of independent 
nominees are placed in another column. Such an ar- 
rangement gives an overwhelming advantage to the 
organization's candidates. 

-The short ballot. — We have already seen that the 
multiplicity of elective offices has contributed to the 
growth of political machines. The founders of the 
republic carried the democratic principle of govern- 
ment by the people to an almost absurd degree. The 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 307 

appointment of officers was largely taken out of the 
hands of the Governor, and election of officers by the 
people or by the legislatures was established. In the 
first half of the nineteenth century, when the voters 
lost faith in the State legislatures, a large number of 
officers were added to the list elected by the popular 
vote. Thus appeared the long ballot in American 
politics. This multiplicity of elective officers, how- 
ever, proved to be very confusing to the voter. For 
example, in the election of November, 19 16, the voters 
in Chicago were expected to vote for 71 different of- 
ficials ; and in November, 1918, for 55. At the Novem- 
ber election in 191 2, when 86 officials were to be se- 
lected, the names of 433 candidates appeared on the 
ballot. At the primary election in 19 14 there were 
382 candidates for 51 positions on the Democratic 
ballot in one district. Upon one occasion the ballot 
required a printed sheet more than two and a half 
feet long and over two feet wide. 

Under our present system it is impossible for the 
average voter to know the qualifications of the candi- 
dates for office. There are so many of them that the 
newspapers cannot even meagerly comment on the 
relative merits of a tenth of the number. Most voters 
thus are compelled to vote blindly for some party 
ticket. A Governor of a State once remarked that he 
had never voted intelligently in his life except for the 
head-of-the-ticket candidates. This condition, which 
is universal in America outside of cities with the com- 
mission form of government, was aptly described by 
Woodrow Wilson : 

In the little borough of Princeton, where I live, I vote 
a ticket of some thirty names, I suppose. I never 
counted them, but there must be quite that number. Now, 



308 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

I am a slightly busy person, and I have never known 
anything about half the men I was voting for on the 
tickets that I voted. I attend diligently, so far as I have 
light, to my political duties in the borough of Princeton 
— and yet I have no personal knowledge of one half of 
the persons I am voting for. I couldn't tell you even 
what business they are engaged in — and to say in such 
circumstances that I am taking part in the government 
of the borough of Princeton is an absurdity. I am not 
taking part in it at all. I am going through the motions 
that I am expected to go through by the persons who 
think that attending primaries and voting at the polls 
is performing your whole political duty. It is doing a 
respectable thing that I am not ashamed of, but it is not 
performing any political duty that is of any consequence. 
I don't count for any more in the government of the 
borough of Princeton than the veriest loafer and 
drunkard in the borough, and I do not know very much 
more about the men I am voting for than he does. He 
is busy about one thing and I am busy about others. We 
are preoccupied, and cannot attend to the government of 
the town. 1 

Of course, if the average citizen is too busy to give 
his attention to local government, there are not lacking 
those who are willing to undertake the business of 
governing. Under our present system of city and 
State government it is exceedingly difficult to fix re- 
sponsibility and differentiate between the good and the 
bad politicians. The trouble with the long ballot is that 
it covers a multitude of sinners as well as worthy men. 
It has become a cloak to cover the political machine 
and bosses. President Roosevelt once said : "I be- 
lieve in the short ballot. You cannot get good service 
from the public servant if you cannot see him, and 

1 Congressional Record, August, 1911, p. 4204. 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 309 

there is no more effective way of hiding him than 
by mixing him up with a multitude of others so that 
there are none of them important enough to catch the 
eye of the average workaday citizen." 

It is one of the ironies of political life that the ap- 
plication of a democratic principle should result in 
taking from the people the very power which they 
jealously sought to safeguard. "Elaborate your gov- 
ernment; place every officer upon his own dear little 
statute ; make it necessary for him to be voted for ; and 
you will not have a democratic government." Such a 
government is too complicated and miscellaneous for 
effective popular control; although it submits readily 
to the domination of the professional politician and 
his machine. Periodically the people of a city or a 
State find the rule of some machine unbearable; they 
have a housecleaning and elect new men, but in an 
incredibly short time the old order is returned to 
power, and things are as bad as they were before. 
"The remedy," said President Wilson, "is contained 
in one word: simplification. Simplify your processes, 
and you will begin to control ; complicate them and you 
will get farther and farther away from their control. 
Simplification! simplification! simplification! is the 
task that awaits us; to reduce the number of persons 
to be voted for to the absolute workable minimum — 
knowing whom you have selected ; knowing whom you 
have trusted ; and having so few persons to watch that 
you can watch them." 

The short ballot movement proposes the following 
things: (1) to shorten the ballot to as few names as 
possible, (2) to limit these names to the most con- 
spicuous offices, and (3) to have all other offices ap- 
pointive. Such a reform, of course, would entail 



310 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

amendments to the State constitutions. Under the 
short ballot system the average citizen could vote in- 
telligently without giving more attention to politics 
than he does at present. In State and city elections he 
would vote for only three or four officers instead of 
thirty or forty, or in some States, for ninety officers. 
These officers would probably be (i) the Governor, 

(2) the member of the legislature for his district, and 

(3) the commissioners of his city. All other officers 
would be appointed. Thus public attention could be 
focused upon the few elective officers. The responsi- 
bility for good or bad government would rest entirely 
upon their shoulders. The people would know whom 
to praise and whom to blame, whom to vote for and 
whom to oust from office. The short-ballot movement 
has been indorsed by the ablest statesmen in America, 
including three Presidents, Roosevelt, Taft, and Wil- 
son, Governor Hughes, Senator Root, Governor Low- 
den, Mayor Mitchel, Dr. Eliot, and William Jennings 
Bryan. 

Nonpartisan reform in the cities. — The bosses 
of our political machines have shrewdly beclouded 
municipal politics by stoutly championing one of the 
major national parties. Tammany Hall in New York 
is Democratic and, of course, claims the Democratic 
vote in municipal elections. The Thompson-Lundin 
machine in Chicago is Republican and likewise claims 
the Republican vote in municipal elections. There is 
no good reason for dragging national issues into muni- 
cipal politics. Does the question of free trade or pro- 
tection, for instance, have anything to do with the 
municipal government of a city ? A city is a local ad- 
ministrative unit. In all elections there should be 
only one question at stake, namely, efficiency of the 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 311 

present city government. In choosing candidates the 
voter under an ideal system of city rule would be dis- 
tracted by no other questions than these : Which candi- 
date is the most efficient official? Which candidate 
has the best policies of city administration? Of course 
there are certain questions that should be decided by 
popular vote, such as the decision in regard to borrow- 
ing money for municipal improvements, but the issues 
of city elections should never be obscured by national 
or State politics. 

The adoption of the commission form of govern- 
ment in some of our cities is not only a step in the 
simplification of government, but also has tended to 
eliminate national and State politics from municipal 
elections, where they have no place. In other cities 
which are still under the mayor-and-council system, 
nonpartisan organizations of citizens have accom- 
plished some fairly good results in promoting the elec- 
tion of worthy candidates. In Chicago the Municipal 
Voters' League was established in 1896 by a group of 
citizens who were determined to end the unspeakable 
corruption of the city council. Not more than ten of 
the sixty-eight aldermen at that time were "even sus- 
pected of being honest" ; the others were an organized 
gang for plunder and blackmail. The League has 
not been able to cleanse Chicago politics, but it has 
contributed to the defeat of many dishonest officials. 
In January of each year the League issues a report 
reviewing the work of the council for the preceding 
year, and approving or condemning the work of the 
aldermen who are to stand for reelection in the April 
election. Shortly before the primaries and before the 
April election, the League issues bulletins giving the 
records of the candidates and advising voters as to 



3 i2 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

the candidates who deserve election and those who 
deserve defeat at the polls. Similar nonpartisan or- 
ganizations have rendered great service to the intelli- 
gent voter in other cities. Under the system of the 
long ballot, however, these organizations are not ade- 
quate to cope with the marshaled forces of the po- 
litical machines. 

ENLARGED ACTIVITIES OF GOVERNMENT 

Many of the changes in our government are due to 
economic and social causes entirely beyond the control 
of statesmen or people and often quite contrary to the 
declarations of party platforms. Every such change 
in industrial or social life may call for a modification 
or enlargement of the functions of government both 
State and national. And as the functions of the gov- 
ernment enlarge there is a corresponding increase in 
the number of officials and the cost of government. 
Thus our political organization becomes more and 
more complex. A mere list of these spheres of govern- 
mental control or regulation that have been gradually 
assumed under the pressure of economic and social 
changes will show how far we have departed from the 
simple government of the Fathers. 

The national government has entered into every de- 
partment of the life of the people. It regulates wholly 
or in part our banks and our railroads; it maintains 
commissions to adjust disputes between labor and 
capital, it delivers mail at every man's door and sends 
goods by parcel-post to every corner of the country; 
it makes every post office a savings bank; it provides 
funds to irrigate waste lands and loans money to farm- 
ers; it regulates the manufacture of foods and medi- 
cines, inspects factories and packing-houses, carries 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 313 

on vigorous campaigns for public health, combats 
diseases, and prohibits the sale in interstate commerce 
of impure drugs; it dissolves conspiracies in restraint 
of interstate trade and fixes railroad rates, insures 
soldiers, controls our national parks, maintains a 
weather bureau. 

There has been a corresponding development in the 
extension of the governmental functions of the States 
and of cities. And this enlargement of the functions 
of government in our democracy has developed so 
naturally that nearly all citizens of our republic accept 
these regulations of the government as reasonable and 
inevitable. It is not surprising that with all these ac- 
tivities to perform, the great number of officials neces- 
sary and the immense sums of money required, there 
should arise in some cities and States organized gangs 
of plunderers who practice burglary on a magnificent 
scale. It is not strange that some officials should be 
weak, cowardly, or incompetent. But, on the other 
hand, the American voter should remember that there 
are thousands of patriotic, capable, and honest men in 
office who seek to perform their public duties efficiently 
and in all good conscience. Nor should any true Amer- 
ican citizen ever ally himself with that class of voters 
who seem to think that their only duty to their country 
is to criticize it; nor will he, in spite of all the defects 
of his government, lose faith in the eternal principles 
of justice and liberty on which it is founded, and cease 
to believe in their ultimate triumph. 

The model American citizen. — Thus briefly and 
imperfectly we have traced the development of our 
governmental functions and have pointed out the main 
tendencies that have produced this development. In 
conclusion, citizens of this republic should assuredly 



3 H AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

know that the democratic state must always reflect 
the character of its citizens. The American people and 
their government are not two separate and distinct 
entities, but a composite one. No model state can 
exist in practice until its virtues are realized in the lives 
of a majority of its citizens. Such citizens will strive 
to educate themselves politically. They will study the 
current problems in government. They will seek to 
understand the workings of political parties and will 
endeavor to make their influence felt in the councils of 
the party of their choice. They will realize that it is 
far better to prevent the nomination and election of 
corrupt and dishonest men than to attempt to recall 
them or annul their vicious acts after they have been 
in office. And if such citizens aspire to office them- 
selves, their strongest motive will be the opportunity 
and privilege of rendering a full measure of honest 
endeavor to promote the welfare of the republic. 

For Further Reading 

The Initiative, Referendum, and Recall. — P. Or- 
man Ray, Introduction to Political Parties and Practical 
Politics, ch. xvii, xx; James Bryce, Modem Democra- 
cies, II, pp. 153-168; A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion and 
Popular Government, ch. ix-xv; A. B. Hall, Popular 
Government, ch. vi, ix ; Bulletin for Massachusetts Con- 
stitutional Convention, 1917, pp. 179-286; Illinois Con- 
stitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 65-165. 

The Australian Ballot. — P. Orman Ray, Introduc- 
tion to Political Parties and Practical Politics, ch. xii ; F. 
A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, ch. xix ; C. L. Jones, 
Readings on Parties and Elections in the United States, 
pp. 212-224; E. C. Evans, History of the Australian Bal- 
lot System in the United States, ch. iii. 

The Direct Primary, — P, Orman Ray, Introduction 



GOVERNMENTAL PROGRESS 315 

to Political Parties and Practical Politics, ch. vi; C. E. 
Merriam, Primary Elections, ch. vii, viii ; F. A. Cleve- 
land, Organized Democracy, ch. xvii. 

The Short Ballot. — R. S. Childs, Short Ballot Prin- 
ciples, ch. i-v; A. M. Kales, Unpopular Government in 
the United States, ch. i, ii ; Elihu Root, Addresses on Gov- 
ernment and Citizenship, pp. 191-206; C. A. Beard, 
American Government and Politics, pp. 474-487; E. B. 
Bullock, Short Ballot, pp. 3-62; A. B. Hall, Popular 
Government, ch. x; Bulletins for Massachusetts Con- 
stitutional Convention, 1917, No. x, pp. 5-15; Illinois 
Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 1920, pp. 337-369 ; 
The Short Ballot: A Movement to Simplify Politics 
(published by the National Municipal League, 261 
Broadway, New York City, and sent to any address for 
ten cents in stamps). 

Nonpartisan Reform in the Cities. — Hoyt King, 
The Reform Movement in Chicago in Annals of Amer- 
ican Academy of Political and Social Science (1905), 
XXXV, pp. 235-246; The Municipal Voters' League 
(pamphlet published by the Municipal Voters' League, 
109 N. Dearborn St., Chicago). 



INDEX 



Adams, John 

on the federal constitution, 15 
"midnight appointments," 33 
"Administration Bills," fed- 
eral, 109 
"Administration Measures," 

in Illinois, 226 
Agriculture, Department of, 

145, 147 
Akron, Ohio, city-manager in, 

280 
Alabama 

quadrennial legislature, 216 
leadership of Governor in, 227 
Alaska 

represented in national nom- 
inating conventions, 96 
governed by Department of 
Interior, 147 
Aldermen 

members of city council, 273 
in New York City, 276 
Aliens 

citizenship of children of, 53 
rights of, under international 

law, 57 
extensive privileges in U. S., 

58 
expulsion of, 59 
Alien Act of 1798, 60 
may vote in presidential elec- 
tions in some States, 60 
Allen, Governor Henry J., 

leadership of, 225 
Ambassadors 

appointment of, 105 
duties of, 143 
Amendment 
Tenth, 29 
Eleventh, 41 
Twelfth, 41, 94 
Thirteenth, 41, 61 
Fourteenth, 41, 52, 61 
Fifteenth, 41, 61, 65 
Sixteenth, 41 



Am endmen t— Contin ued 
Seventeenth, 41, 133 
Eighteenth, 41 
Nineteenth, 41, 65 
Amendment, process in federal 

constitution, 41 
Amendment, process in State 

constitutions, 46-48 
Amendments, federal, first ten, 

a bill of rights, 21, 41 
American Federation of 

Labor, 173 
American Ideals in Politics, 

90 
Americanization Program, 

56-57 
Anti-Federalists, oppose rati- 
fication of federal constitu- 
tion, 21, 72 
Appointment, to office 

federal, 104-105, 138, 151-155 
State, 212 

city, 274-275, 278, 280 
Appointment, of U. S. repre- 
sentatives, 120 
Arizona 

recall of judges, 205 
vote on proposal to abolish 
State Senate, 223 
Army, U. S., regular, 161, 162 
Articles of Confederation, 

adoption of, 15 
Attorney-General 
federal, 145 
State, 193, 214 
Australian Ballot, 301 

Ballot 

Australian adopted, 301 

description of, 302 

in primary elections, 303-306 

short ballot reform, 306-310 
Ballots of Presidential Elec- 
tors, 41, 103 



317 



3i8 



INDEX 



Bank, United States, constitu- 
tionality of, 38, 1 68 
Banks, Federal Reserve, 169 
Bill of Rights 
English, 14 

in federal constitution, 21 
in State constitutions, 63 
Bill procedure, in Congress, 

128-131, 137-138 
Blockade, may be ordered by 

President, 107 
Board of Regents, New York, 

235, 265 
"Bosses" 

term for a peculiar type of 

American demagogue, 85 
methods of, 87, 90 
reasons for existence of, 226, 
276, 297, 308 
Boston 
police commissioner appointed 

by Governor, 283 
investment in parks, 287 
cost of schools, 288 
Bryan, William Jennings 
influence in amending U. S. 

constitution, 41 
wins Populist vote in 1896, 77 
campaign speeches in 1896, 

102 
short ballot advocate, 310 
Bryce, James 

on the expansion of U. S. 

constitution, 36 
on efficiency of Senators, 133 
on extravagance of Congress, 

166 
on work of State govern- 
ments, 210 
on city government in U. S., 
276 
Budget, Director of Bureau of, 

149, 167 
Budgetary Reform 
federal, 167 
State, 227 
municipal, 280, 282 
Burke, Edmund, on independ- 
ence of representatives, 123 
Burr, Aaron 
trial of, 34 



Burr, Aaron— Continued 

election of 1800, 41, 94 
Business, State protection and 
regulation of, 242 

Cabinet, British, control over 

the budget, 166-167 
Cabinet 

the President's appointment 

of members, 105 
influence in Congress, 109 
members of, 112 
origin of, 113 
meetings of, 113 
proposal to give seats in Con- 
gress to, 114, 119 
California 
recall of judges, 205 
commission form of govern- 
ment applied to counties 
in, 264 
Canada, provincial legislatures 

of, unicameral, 224 
Cannon, Joseph as speaker, 

126 
"Carpet-Bag" Regime, 62, 75, 

248 
Caucus, in Congress 
nominates candidates in presi- 
dential election of 1800, 94 
selection of candidates for 
speaker of House, 127-129 
selection of floor-leaders and 
committee members, 127- 
129, 136 
Census, federal, 148 
Chancellor of the Excheq- 
uer, British head of treas- 
ury, 166-167 
Charities and Correction 
State regulation of, 240 
in cities, 289 
Checks and Balances, System 
of 
established by the Fathers, 

3.2 7 33 
position of President under, 

104 
position of Congress under, 

117 
position of Senate under, 136 



INDEX 



319 



Checks and Balances— C't'd 
State governments under, 21 1, 
225 
Chemistry, Bureau of, 145, 147 
Chicago Crime Commission, 

203 
Chicago 
Thompson-Lundin machine, 

86, 276, 310 
seat of Railroad Labor Board, 

150 

Morals Court, 189 

laxity in prosecution of crime 

in, 200 
assessment of personal prop- 
erty in, 250 
population, 269 
foreign population, 270 
mayor and council of, 273, 

276 
executive departments, 274 
complexity of government in, 

275 

proposal of city-manager for, 
281 

investment in parks, 287 

cost of schools, 288 

street railway franchise, 290 

multiplicity of elective offi- 
cers in, 307 

Municipal Voters' League, 311 
Chief Justice of U. S. Su- 
preme Court 

presides at impeachment of 
President, 140 

head of Supreme Court, 180, 

185 
John Marshall as, 186 
Chief of Staff, 145 
Child Labor Laws, 246 
Childs, Richard S., on State 
supervision of local gov- 
ernment, 266 
China, U. S. Court for, 182 
Circuit Courts of Appeal, U. 

S., 180 
Citizenship 
definition of, 51 
dual, in the U. S., 52 
Dred Scott case, 52 
Fourteenth Amendment, 52 



Citizenshi p— Continued 
acquisition of, by birth, 53- 

54 

citizenship of wife, 54 

naturalization, 54-56 

acquisition of, by annexation, 
62 

civil rights, 63 

political rights are not civic, 
64 

duties and obligations, 66-68 

the model American citizen, 
313 
City Government 

growth of cities, 269-271 

organization of, 271-281 

finance, 281-282 

police administration, 282- 
284 

fire protection, 284 

public works, 284 

public health and sanitation, 
284-286 

municipal housing, 286 

public recreation and social 
centers, 286 

schools and libraries, 288-289 

poor relief and charity, 289 

public utilities, 289-291 

municipal ownership, 291 

city planning, 292 

nonpartisan reform in, 310 
City-Manager Plan, 279 
Civil Administrative Code of 

Illinois, 229 
Civil Procedure, 190-193 

reform in, 197-204 
Civil Rights, 63 
Civil Service Commission, U. 

S., 151, 154 
Civil Service 

federal, 1 51-155 

municipal, 275 
Clay, Henry, as speaker, 126 
Clayton Act of 1914, 172, 174 
Cleveland 

conciliation court in, 189 

city farm for boys, 190 

municipal bath house, 287 
Cleveland, Grover 

President, 76 



320 



INDEX 



Cleveland, Grover— Cont'd 
Venezuelan controversy, 107 
Pullman strike, 108 
civil service reform, 154 
leadership of, as governor of 
N. Y., 224 
Cloture Rule, in Senate, 135- 

136 
Coinage, 168 
Colonies 
government of the thirteen 

American, 14 
plans for union, 15 
Colorado, recall of judges in, 

205 
Commander-in-Chief, of army 
and navy, President as, 107, 

145 
Commerce, Department of, 148 
Commerce, interstate, regula- 
tion of, 40 
Commission Form of Govern- 
ment 
applied to counties, 263 
applied to cities, 277 
Common Law, basis of American 

legal system, 14 
Committee System 
in Congress, 127-130, 134 
in State legislatures, 216, 227 
Compromises of the Federal 

Constitution, 19 
Conciliation Court, of Cleve- 
land, 189 
Conference Committee, in 

Congress, 131 
Conference of Governors, 

175, 213 
Congress, of the Confedera- 
tion, weakness of, 16 
Congress 

power to regulate commerce, 

20, 40, 170 
first session under the federal 

constitution, 21 
President's message to, 108 
special sessions, 109 
proposal to give seats in, to 
cabinet officials, 114 



Congress — Continued 

as part of System of Checks 
and Balances, 117-119 

sessions of, 119-121 

congressional elections, 125- 
126 

organization of House of Rep- 
resentatives, 126-129 

bill procedure, 129-13 1 

membership of Senate, 131- 
132 

election of Senators, 132 

organization of Senate, 133- 

134 

freedom of debate in Senate, 
134-136 

party control in Senate, 136 

powers and functions of Sen- 
ate, 136-140 

extravagance in spending fed- 
eral funds, 166 

power to regulate public 

health, safety and morals, 

172 

Congressional Districts, 121 

Congressional Elections, 125- 

126 
Congressional Record, 131 
Connecticut 

tariff contest with New York, 
16 

retention of colonial charter 
as State constitution, 14, 43 

election of judges by legisla- 
ture, 205 
Conservation of Natural 
Resources 

federal, 175-177 

State, 248 
Constitution 

British compared with Amer- 
ican, 28 

flexible because easily 
amended, 36 
Constitution, federal 

praised by Gladstone, 12 

making of, 15-20 

adoption of, 20-21 

establishment of new govern- 
ment under, 21-22 

stability of, 25-26 



INDEX 



321 



Constitution— Continued 
supreme law of the land, 27 
brevity of, 27 

as a grant of powers, 28-29 
created a national govern- 
ment, 29-31 
created the System of Checks 

and Balances, 32-33 
expansion of, 35-43, 298, 312- 

313 . 
amending process, 41-42 
liberal character of, 42-43 
Constitutions, State 
early, 43 
brevity of early as compared 

with later, 44-45 
framing of, 45 
amending process, 46-48 
restrictions upon Governor, 
in early, 212 
Constitutional Convention 
of 1787, 15-22 
events preceding, 15-16 
members of, 16-18 
compromises of, 19-20 
work of, 20-22 
Constitutional Law, as com- 
pared with statutory law, 
27, 33, 44, 185, 300 
Consular Service, 143 
Consuls 
appointment of, 106 
duties of, 144 
Cook County 

judicial situation in, 201 
assessment of personal prop- 
erty in, 250 
complexity of government of, 

275 
Coroner, county officer, 261 
Corporations 

legal status as persons, 63, 

174, 243 
corporation law, 211, 215 
Corporation Tax, 250 
Council, city, 273, 276, 279 
County 

origin of, 257 
States divided into, 258 
county board or supervisors, 
258 



County— Con tinued 
justice and police, 259 
other officers, 262 
charter government, 263-264 
County Attorney, 259 
County Board, 258 
County Charter Govern- 
ment, 263 
County Superintendent, 

school officer, 235, 263 
Courts, federal 

duties in regard to naturali- 
zation, 55 
organization of, 180-182 
jurisdiction of, 182-183 
practice and procedure in, 

183-185 
prestige of, 185 
power to declare acts uncon- 
stitutional, 34, 185 
character of justices, 186 
Courts, State 

organization of, 187-190 
civil and criminal procedure 

in, 190-196 
punishments inflicted by, 196 
the jury system, 196 
reform in civil and criminal 

procedure, 197-204 
selection and removal of 
judges, 204-207 
Court of Claims, U. S., 181 
Court of Customs Appeal, 

181 
Court of Domestic Rela- 
tions, 189 
Criminal Procedure, 190-196 

reform in, 197-204 
Currency, U. S., 168 

Dayton, Ohio, adoption of city- 
manager plan, 279 
Death Penalty, 196 
Debs, Eugene V. 

founder of Socialist Party, 79 
and the Pullman strike, 108 
Delaware 

amending process in, 46 
power of courts to order a 
public whipping of offend- 
ers, 196 



322 



INDEX 



Delaware — Continued 

appointment of judges by- 
Governor, 205 

Democracy, American, 27, 51, 
70, 296, 306 

Democratic Party 
origin of, 73 

attitude toward interpreta- 
tion of constitution, 73 
later history of, 75 
organization of, 80-84 
national nominating conven- 
tions, 95-100 
methods for controlling Con- 
gress, 127, 136 
and Tammany in New York, 
310 

Denver, 145, 189 

Des Moines plan of city gov- 
ernment, 278 

Dickens, Charles, service to 
educational reform, 288 

Diplomatic Powers of Pres- 
ident,. 106 

Diplomatic Service, 143 

Direct Legislation, 218-223, 
278, 299-301 

Disarmament Conference of 
192 1, 164 

District Courts, U. S., 180 

District of Columbia repre- 
sented in national nominat- 
ing conventions, 95, 96 

Doctrine of Implied Powers, 
38 

Domestic Violence, federal 
government may protect 
States from, 107-108 

Dred Scott Case, 52 

Due Process of Law, 182 

Economy and Efficiency, 

Commission on, 229 
Education, State control of, 

234 
Electorate, place of, in a 

democracy, 70 
Eliot, Charles W., advocates 

short ballot reform, 310 
Ellis Island, 149 
Eminent Domain, 243 



English Origins, 13, 113, 235, 

255, 260, 272 
Excess Condemnation, 292 
Expressed Powers, 39 

Farewell Address, Washing- 
ton's, 43, 73 
Farm Tenancy, 266 
Fathers of the Constitu- 
tion, 16-25 
work of, 16-22 
criticisms of, 22-25 
admire the System of Checks 

and Balances, 32-33 
and the amending process, 35 
plan for electing President, 93 
plans for Congress, 117 
and negotiation of treaties, 138 
and national defense, 161 
and the federal courts, 179 
attitude as to power of courts 
to pass on constitutionality 
of acts, 185 
Federal Farm Loan Board, 

144, 267 
Federal Reserve Act of 19 13, 

169 
Federal Reserve Board, 150, 

169 
Federal Trade Commission, 

151, 172 
Federalists 

urge ratification of federal 

constitution, 21, 72 
urge liberal construction of 
constitution, 73 
Fifteenth Amendment 
adoption of, 41 
designed to protect political 
rights of Negroes, 61, 65 
Filipinos, status of, 62 
Finance, Senate committee on, 

134, 166 
Floor-Leader 
in House of Representatives, 

127 
in Senate, 136 
Florida 

cession of, 62 

appointment of trial judges 
by the Governor, 204 



INDEX 



323 



Foreign Affairs, Senate com- 
mittee on, 134, 139 
Fourteenth Amendment 
adoption of, 41 
definition of citizen, 52 
civic rights of Negroes, 61 
France, constitution of 1791, 

26 
Franklin, Benjamin 

plan for colonial union, 15 
member of convention of 

1787, 18 
anecdote concerning, 20 

Galveston, Texas, commission 

form of government, 277 
Gas Ring, in Philadelphia, 276 
Gault, Dr. Robert H., on re- 
form of courts, 201 
Geneva, seat of League of Na- 
tions, 160 
Germany 

withdrawal of U. S. ambassa- 
dor from, 106 
"pacific blockade" of Vene- 
zuela, 106 
war with, 159 
Gerrymander, 121 
Gibbons vs. Ogden, 28, 39 
Gladstone, praise of U. S. con- 
stitution, 12 
Governor, State 

oath of National Guard to, 

162 
powers of, 21 1-2 14 
as leader of legislature, 224- 

227 
and the budget, 228 
Grand Rapids, Michigan, city- 
manager in, 280 
Grant, Ulysses S., rejection of 
his San Domingo treaty, 

„ I35 U 

Great Britain 

declaration of independence 

from, 14 
Venezuelan controversy, 107 
opposes Holy Alliance, 158 
member of Council of League 

of Nations, 160 



Great Britain— Continued 
invited to Disarmament Con- 
ference, 164 
leads in urban development, 
269 
Greenback Party, 76 
Guam, 146 

Habeas Corpus Act, 14 
Habeas Corpus, suspension of, 

by Lincoln, 107 
Hamilton, Alexander 

member of Convention of 

1787, 18 
author of doctrine of implied 

power, 38 
in Washington's cabinet, 72, 
113 
Hanna, Mark, national chair- 
man in 1896, 82 
Harding, William G. 

follows precedent of Wilson in 

reading messages, 109 
as leader of Congress, 1 1 1 
invites Vice-President into 

cabinet, 113 
call of Disarmament Confer- 
ence, 164 
Hawaii 

inhabitants of, U. S. citizens, 

62 
represented in national nom- 
inating conventions, 95, 96 
under Department of Interior, 

147 
Hay, John 
rejection of his treaties, by 

Senate, 139 
diplomatic victories of, 159 
Hodges, Governor George II., 
criticism of State legisla- 
tures, 217 
Hoover, Herbert, 148 
Hough, Dr. Lynn IIakoi.d, on 

civic obligations, 67 
House of Representative 
the popular branch of Con- 
gress, 19, 117 
membership of, 120 
congressional districts, 121 



324 



INDEX 



House of Representatives— 

Continued 
qualifications of members, 

122-125 
congressional elections, 125- 

126 
speaker of, 126-127 
party caucus in, 127-128 
committee system in, 127-130 
Hughes, Charles E. 

leadership of, as Governor, 

224 
and primary elections, 306 
short ballot advocate, 310 

Illinois Commerce Commis- 
sion, 273 
Illinois 

"saddlebag" district in, 122 
courts in, 188 
"administration measures" in 

General Assembly, 226 
consolidation of administra- 
tive offices, 229 
Blue Book of, 252 
town-meetings in, 265 
Immigration 
generous policy of America 

regarding, 58 
history of, 59 
evils of, 59 

under charge of Department 
of Labor, 149 
Impeachment, federal process, 
34, 105, 118, 137, 139-140, 
180 
Implied Powers, 38 
Income Tax 
federal, 41, 165 
State, 250 
Indiana 
amending process, 47 
Taggart machine, 86 
Information, a legal process, 
substituted for indictment, 
194, 260 
Inheritance Tax, 250 
Initiative and Referendum 
State, 218, 223, 299-301 
under commission form of 
city government, 278 



Injunctions, in labor disputes, 
173-174 

Interior, Department of, 146 

International Law, 159, 160 
part of domestic law of U. S., 
161 

Interstate Commerce, power 
of Congress to regulate, 20, 
40, 170 

Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission, 150, 171 

"Invisible Government," 88 

Iowa 

study centers for teachers, 

236 
Official Register, 252 

Jackson, Andrew 

leader of early Democratic 

Party, 73 
and the "spoils system," 152 
opposition to U. S. Bank, 168 

Jefferson, Thomas 

sacrifice as President, 24 
conflict with Marshall, 33-35 
refuses to appear in court, 35 
election as President in 1800, 

4i 

in Washington's cabinet, 72, 

113 

leader of the Jeffersonian Re- 
publicans, 73 
nominated by caucus in 1800, 

94 

on the President as spokesman 

of the nation, 106 
and federal appointments, 152 
on public education, 235 
Jeffersonian Republican 

Party, 73 
Johnson, Andrew, impeach- 
ment of, 140 
Judicial Interpretation, ex- 
pansion of U. S. Constitu- 
tion by, 38 
Judiciary. See Courts. 
Judiciary Act of 1789, 38, 180 
Jury 

grand, 193 
petit, 194 



INDEX 



325 



Jury— Continued 

complaints against the jury 
system, 196 
Justice, Department of, 145 
Justice of the Peace, 188 
Juvenile Court, 189-190 

Kansas 

Court of Industrial Relations, 

225, 244 
Blue Sky Law, 243 
Kentucky, first use of Aus- 
tralian ballot, 301 
Knox, Henry, member of Wash- 
ington's cabinet, 72, 113 

Labor, Department of, 148 

Labor Problems 
federal, 172, 175 
State, 244-247 

La Follette, Robert M., as a 
filibuster, 136 

League of Nations, 160 

Lee, General Robert E., 30 

Legislative Reference Bu- 
reau, 217 

Library of Congress, 151 

Lincoln, Abraham 
on the people, 51, 297 
elected President in 1861, 75 
exercise of war powers, 107 
appeal to Governors, 213 

Lindsey, Judge Ben B., 189 

Lobby, in State legislatures, 218 

Local Government, 255-258, 
265-266 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, as leader 
of Senate, 136 

Los Angeles 

cost of schools, 288 
water supply, 289 

Los Angeles County, 264 

Louisiana 
cession of, 62 
prohibits State debts, 248 
divided into parishes, 255, 258 

Louisville, Kentucky, adopts 
Australian ballot, 302 

Lowden, Governor Frank O. 
reform of pardons and pa- 
roles, 202 



Lowden, Gov. Frank O.— C't'd 

and consolidation of adminis- 
trative offices in Illinois, 
229 

short ballot advocate, 310 
Lowell, James Russell, on 
the federal constitution, 22 

"Machine" 
to be distinguished from party 

organization, 86 
methods of, 87 

reasons for the existence of, 
88-90, 226, 276, 297, 308 
Madison, James 

leader in Convention of 1787, 

17-18 
as President, 25 
use of term "national," 30 
attitude toward parties, 72 
on public education, 234 
Madison's Journal, 17, 20 
Magna Charta, 14, 197 
Maine 

congressional elections in, 125 
appointment of judges by 
Governor, 205 
Marbury vs. Madison, 33, 185 
Marshall, John, Chief Jus- 
tice 
on the constitution as a grant 

of powers, 28 
on power of courts to pass on 
constitutionality of acts of 
Congress, 33 
conflict with Jefferson, 33-35 
uses doctrine of implied pow- 
ers, 38 
member of Virginia conven- 
tion of 1829, 45 
on the power to tax, 164 
influence as Chief Justice, 186 
Martial Law, 107, 213 
Maryland, executive budget in, 

228 
Massachusetts 

constitution of 1780, 43 
amending process, 48 
appointment of judges by 

Governor, 205 
life tenure of judges, 205 



326 



INDEX 



Massachusetts— Continued 
administrative offices in, 233 
State Board of Health, 238 
regulation of public utilities, 

244, 291 
labor problems, 244 
medical examiners, 262 
Remnant Act of 1904, 293 
primaries in, 305 
Mayor 
head of city administration, 

273 
powers of, 273 
Mayor-President, under com- 
mission form of city gov- 
ernment, 278 
McKinley, William, "front 

porch" campaign, 102 
Merriam, Charles Edward, 
report on crime in Chicago, 
201 
Message to Congress, the 

President's, 106, 108 
Mexico 
copied U. S. form of govern- 
ment, 103 
declaration of war of 1846, 

106 
arbitration with, 159 
Michigan 
prosecution by information 

in, 260 
removal of sheriff by Gov- 
ernor, 261 
town-meetings in, 265 
Missouri 

State "boss" of, 86 
"shoe-string" district in, 122 
judicial circuits in, 259 
Militia, definition of, 161. See 

National Guard 
Minimum Wage Commissions, 

State, 245 
Minnesota 
prosecution by information 

in, 260 
town-meetings in, 265 
Minor vs. Happersett, 64 
Minors, 52, 64 
Mints, federal, 145 
Mitchel, Mayor, 310 



Mitchell, John, 247 
Model American Citizen, 313 
Money and Banking, 168 
Monroe Doctrine, 107, 158 
Monroe, James, as President, 

25 
Morals Court, in Chicago, 189 
Morris, Gouverneur, remarks 

on purpose of society, 22 
Mott, Lucretia, 42 
Municipal Charters, 272 
Municipal Home Rule, 271 
Municipal Housing, 286 
Municipal Ownership, of pub- 
lic utilities, 291 
Municipal Voters' League, 
in Chicago, 311 

National Chairman, 80-82, 95 
National Committee, 80, 95 
National Defense, 161-164 
National Defense Act of 

1916, 161, 247 
National Forests, 176 
National Guard, 161-162, 247 
National Parks, 147 
Naturalization Law of the 
U. S., 54-56 
federal bureau of, 149 
Navy, American, 163-164 
Navy, Department of, 146, 163- 

164 
Nebraska, town-meetings in, 

265 
Negroes in the U. S. 
racial problems, 61 
protected by the Civil War 
amendments, 61 
Net- Weight Act, 172 
Nevada, recall of judges, 205 
New Bedford, Massachu- 
setts, foreign population 
in, 270 
New England, local govern- 
ment in, 256 
New England Confederation, 

15 
New Hampshire 

ninth State to ratify federal 
constitution, 21 



INDEX 



327 



New Hampshire— Continued 

first State to frame a consti- 
tution, 43 

appointment of judges by- 
Governor, 205 

life tenure of judges, 205 

unwieldy House of Repre- 
sentatives, 216 
New Jersey 

plan of union proposed in 
Convention of 1787, 19 

judges appointed by Gov- 
ernor, 205 

regulation of charities in, 240 

town meetings in, 265 
New York City 

first seat of federal govern- 
ment, 22 

Tammany Hall in, 86, 276, 
285, 310 

Night Court, 189 

Roosevelt as police commis- 
sioner, 197 

magistrates appointed by 
mayor, 204 

population, 269 

foreign population in, 270 

Tweed ring, 276 

Board of Aldermen, 276 

expenditures, 281 

Bureau of Municipal Re- 
search, 282 

street cleaning, 285 

Tenement House Commission, 
286 

Rent Law of 1920, 286 

investment in parks, 287 

cost of schools, 288 

water supply, 290 
New York State 

tariff contest with Connecti- 
cut, 15 

amending process, 46 

long tenure of judges, 205 

administrative offices in, 216 

Board of Regents, 235, 266 

charities and correction in, 241 

workmen's compensation law, 
246 

State police in, 247 

large debt, 249 



New York State— Continued 
taxation in, 250-251 
"Legislative Manual," 252 
removal of sheriff by Gov- 
ernor, 261 
town-meetings in, 265 
Public Service Commission, 

291 
primaries in, 305-306 
Night Court, in New York 

City, 189 
Nineteenth Amendment, 

adopted, 41, 65 
Nonpartisan Voting, 310 
North Carolina, prohibits 

State debts, 248 
North Dakota 

Nonpartisan league in, 78 
town-meetings in, 265 
Northern Securities Com- 
pany Case, 182 

Odell, Governor Benjamin B., 

political boss, 85 
Ohio, prohibits State debts, 248 
Oklahoma 

constitution of 1907, 44 
vote on proposal to abolish 
State Senate, 223 
Open Door Policy, 159 
Oregon 

amending process, 47 
recall of judges, 205 
initiative and referendum in, 

218-221 
proposal of People's Power 
League to abolish the Sen- 
ate, 223 
recall of State officers, 301 

Panama, recognition by the U. 

S., 106 
Pardons 

power of President to grant, 

105 
power of Governor, 212 
Paris, Peace Conference at, 159 
Parliament, British 

acts of, a part of British con- 
stitution, 28 
unlimited powers, 36 



328 



INDEX 



Parliament, British— Cont'd 
Prime Minister, leader of, 104 
moderation in legislation, 217 
Parliamentary Form of Gov- 
ernment, 103-104 
Payne-Aldrich Tariff, hi 
Penn, William, plan for col- 
onial union, 15 
Pennsylvania 

delegation in convention of 

1787, 18 
long tenure of judges, 205 
State police in, 247 
Smull's Legislative Hand 
Book, 252 
People, Fathers meant citizens, 

51 
People's Power League in 

Oregon, 223 
Permanent Court of Inter- 
national Justice, 160 
Perry, Commodore, 163 
Personal Property Tax, 249, 

281 
Petition of Right, 14 
Philadelphia 

Constitutional Convention at, 

16 
mint at, 145 
population, 269 
Gas Ring in, 276 
cost of schools, 288 
Philippines 

status of inhabitants, 62 
represented in national nom- 
inating conventions, 95, 96 
under War Department, 145 
Pinchot, Gifford, 175 
Platforms 

of political parties, 71 
in presidential campaigns, 98 
"Pocket Veto," ho 
Police, administration in cities, 

282 
Police Courts, 188 
Political Rights, 64 
Polk, James K., and declara- 
tion of war on Mexico, 106 
Poor Relief 
in counties, 263 
in cities, 289 



Poll Tax, 250 
Populist Party, 76 
Porto Rico 
citizens of, 62 

represented in national nom- 
inating conventions, 95, 96 
under War Department, 145 
Posse Comitatus, 261 
Post Office, Department of, 

146 
Pound, Roscoe, 197 
President of U. S. 

Washington elected as first, 

22, 94 
not amenable to judicial proc- 
ess, 34-35 
election of, 93-103 
position of, under System of 
Checks and Balances, 104, 
118 
appointing powers, 104-105 
power to grant reprieves and 

pardons, 105 
diplomatic powers, 106-107 
military powers, 107-108, 145 
legislative powers, 1 08-1 10 
political powers, 110-112 
cabinet of, 11 2-1 15 
succession to, 114 
as representative of the peo- 
ple, 115 
impeachment of, 118, 137 
oath of National Guard to, 
162 
President's Cabinet. See 

Cabinet. 
President's Message. See 

Message to Congress. 
Presidential Elections, of 

1912, 77 
Presidential Electors 
in 1789, 21 
plan of the Fathers in regard 

to, 37, 92-94 
changes made by Twelfth 

Amendment , 41 
selection of tickets of, 100- 

102 
election of President by, 102- 
103 



INDEX 



329 



Presidential Form of Gov- 
ernment, 103-104 
Presidential Primaries, 97 
Primaries 

presidential, 97 

congressional, 126 

methods, 303 

closed and open primaries, 

304 
Prime Minister, functions un- 
der parliamentary govern- 
ments, 103 
Prison Commission, New York, 

242 
Progressive Party 
and woman suffrage, 42 
in the election of 1912, 77 
Prohibition 
national, 41 
enforcement of, 144 
Public Health, Safety and 
Morals, 172 
regulation of by State gov- 
ernments, 238 
by city governments, 284 
Public Utilities, 289 
Public Welfare, and State 

governments, 233-252 
Pure Food and Drugs Act, 
145, 147, 172 

Quay, Senator Matthew S., 
political boss, 85 

Railroad Labor Board, 150, 

174 
Railways, federal regulation of, 

40, 170 
Randolph, Edmund 
member of Convention of 

1787, 16 
member of Washington's cab- 
inet, 72, 113 
Ray, P. Orman 
on initiative and referendum, 

221 
summary of Australian bal- 
lot, 302 
Real Property Tax, 249, 281 
Recall 

of judges, 205 



Recall —Continued 

under commission form of 
city government, 278, 301 

of State officers, 301 
Reed, Thomas B., as speaker, 

131 

Representatives, U. S. 
apportionment of, 120 
qualifications of, 122 
expulsion of, from House, 124 
election of, 125-126 
Removal 

power of, by the President, 105 
by Governor, 212 
Reprieves, power of President 

to grant, 105 
Republican Party 

attitude toward interpreta- 
tion of constitution, 73 
origin of, 74 
organization of, 80-84 
national nominating conven- 
tions, 95-100 
methods for controlling Con- 
gress, 127, 136 
and the Thompson-Lundin 
machine in Chicago, 310 
Reserve Officers' Training 

Corps, 161 
Residual Powers, 29 
Rhode Island 

retention of colonial charter 

as State constitution, 14, 43 

no delegate in convention of 

1787, 16 
"State boss" of, 88 
election of judges by legisla- 
ture, 204 
life tenure of judges, 205 
Richmond, Virginia, municipal 

electric plant, 284 
"Riders," attached to bills, no, 

176 
Rus, Jacob, his "Battle with 

the Slum," 286 
Robinson, Mrs. Corinne 

Roosevelt, 99 
Roosevelt, Theodore 
on civic obligations, 66 
formation of Progressive 
Party, 77 



33<> 



INDEX 



Roosevelt, Theodore— Cont'd 
on political bosses, 87 
recognition of Panama, 106 
opposed "pacific blockade" of 

Venezuela, 106, 157 
threat to veto bills, 109 
leader of his party, m 
on the Civil Service, 152 
on a "league of peace," 159 
and the problem of trusts, 172 
and conservation of natural 

resources, 175 
as police commissioner of New 

York, 197 
conference of Governors, 213 
leadership of, as Governor, 

224 
on short ballot reform, 308, 

310 
Root, Elihu 

on "invisible government," 88 
on reform of civil procedure, 

198 
short ballot advocate, 310 
Rural Credits, 266 



Saint Louis, board of police 

commissioners, appointed 

by Governor, 283 
Samoa, 146 
San Francisco, 145 
Schools 
rural, 236 

vocational training in, 236 
cost of, 282, 288 
city, 288 
Scott, Colin A., on progress in 

education, 288 
Secretaries, federal, 112, 142, 

149. See State, Treasury, 

War, etc. 
Secretary of State, 112-113, 

143 
Secretary of State, in State 

governments, 214 
Secretary of the Treasury, 

112-113, 144, 150 
Selective Service Act of 

1917, 162 



Senate 

plan of the Fathers concern- 
ing, 117, 135 
special sessions of, 120 
membership of, 131-132 
election of Senators, 132-133 
organization of, 133-134 
freedom of debate in, 134-136 
party control in, 136 
legislative functions of, 137- 

combination of appointments, 

138 
ratification of treaties, 138 
rejection of Treaty of Ver- 
sailles, 160 
Senatorial Courtesy, 37, 105, 

138 
Seniority, rule of, in Congress, 

128 
Sessions, regular, of Congress, 

1 19-120 
Sessions, special, of Congress, 

109 
Shays's Rebellion, 15 
Sheriff, county officer, 260 
Sherman Anti-Trust Law, 171, 

183 
Sherman, Roger, 24 
Short Ballot, 306 
Smith, R. H., his Justice and the 

Poor, 197 
Smithsonian Institution, 151 
Socialist -Labor Party, 77-78 
Socialist Party, 77-78 
"Solid South," 75 
South, attitude in convention of 

1787, 19-20 
South Carolina, election of 

judges by the legislature, 

205 
South Dakota 
initiative and referendum in, 

218 
town-meetings in, 265 
Spain, constitution since 18 12, 

26 
Speaker of House of Repre-. 

sentatives, 126-127 
"Spoils System," 154 



INDEX 



33i 



Springfield, Massachusetts, 

civic center in, 292 
State Central Committee, 82, 

85 
State Conventions, of politi- 
cal parties, 85, 97 
State, Department of, 143, 298 
State Government 
powers of the Governor, 211- 

214 
administration, 214-215 
State legislature, 215-218 
initiative and referendum, 

218-223 
reconstruction of, 223-230 
public welfare, 233-252 
supervision of local govern- 
ment by, 265-266 
control over municipalities, 
271-272 
State Judiciary, compared 

with federal, 184 
State Legislature 
powers of, 215 
organization, 216 
criticism of, 216-218 
initiative and referendum, 

218-223 
reorganization of, 223-224 
Governor as leader, 224-227 
and the budget, 227-228 
State Parties, 84-85 
State Police, 247 
State Politics, 83-91 
States, original thirteen 

declaration of independence, 

14 • 

sovereignty of, 15, 29 

States 

powers prohibited to, 29 
powers retained by, 29 
relation to federal govern- 
ment, 30 
constitutions of, 43-48 
obligation of federal govern- 
ment to protect, 107-108 
governments of, 210-230 
public welfare of, 233-252 
State's Rights, 30-31 
Staunton, Virginia, use of 
city-manager plan, 280 



"Steering Committee," 127, 

„ I36 

Suffrage, Fathers left ques- 
tion of, to the States, 65 
Superintendent of Docu- 
ments, sale of copies of 
U. S. constitution, 27 
Superintendent of Public 
Education, State officer, 
215, 235 
Supervisors, county officers, 

258 
Supreme Court 

position in System of Checks 

and Balances, 33-35 
power to declare acts uncon- 
stitutional, 34, 185 
no jurisdiction over Presi- 
dent, 34-35 
on "regulation of commerce," 

39. . 

definition of citizen, 52 

on political rights, 64 

on President's removal power, 
105 

case of Debs, 108 

on international law as part 
of domestic law, 161 

on Sherman Anti-trust law, 
172 

tenure of justices, 180 

organization, 180 

jurisdiction of, 182 

procedure in, 184 
Susan B. Anthony Amend- 
ment, 42 

Taft, William Howard 

on the Oklahoma constitu- 
tion, 44 

on extending the President's 
veto power, 1 10 

as leader of his party, 1 1 1 

on giving seats in Congress to 
cabinet officers, 114 

rejection of his arbitration 
treaties, 139 

on need of reform of judicial 
procedure, 201 

on appointed and elected 
judges, 205 



332 



INDEX 



Taft, William Howard— C't'd 

Commission on Economy and 
Efficiency, 229 

short ballot advocate, 310 
Taggart Machine, in Indiana, 

86 
Tammany Hall, 86, 90, 276, 310 
Tariff, 165 

Tariff Commission, 151 
Taxation 

federal, 164-166 

State, 248-251 

city, 281 
Tennyson, on British freedom, 28 
Tenth Amendment, adopted in 

1791, 29 
The Hague Conference, 159 
Third Parties, 76-80 
Thirteenth Amendment 

adoption of, 41 

freedom of Negroes, 61 
Thompson-Lundin Machine, 

86, 206, 276, 310 
Torrens System, 263 
Town-Meeting, New England, 

256, 265 
Township, 264-265 
Treasury, Department of, 144 
Treaties 

negotiation of, by President, 
105, 138 

ratification of, by Senate, 

138-139 
Turgot, quoted, 58 
Tweed Ring, in New York, 276 
Twelfth Amendment, adopted, 

4i,94 

Unconstitutionality of Acts, 

33 
Underwood, Oscar W., as 
party leader in Senate, 136 
Union 

proposals of union in colonial 

times, 15 
Washington on, 16 
Virginia and New Jersey 

plans, 19 
struggle to create, 20 
United States Shipping 
Board, 151 



Venezuela 
aided by Roosevelt, 106, 157 
controversy of 1896, 107 
Vermont, election of judges by 

legislature, 205 
Versailles, Treaty of, 139 
Veterans' Bureau, 151 
Veto 

of President, part of System 
of Checks and Balances, 32 
President's power of, 109 
Governor's power of, 212 
mayor's power of, 274 
Vice-President, 21, 37, 94, 141 
as member of President's cab- 
inet, 112-113 
succession to presidency, 114 
presiding officer of Senate, 
134, 140 
Virgin Islands, 146 
Virginia 
quarrel with Maryland, 16 
delegation from, in Conven- 
tion of 1787, 16 
convention of 1829, 45 
election of judges by legisla- 
ture, 205 
leadership of Governor in, 227 
prohibits State debts, 248 
Virginia Plan, proposed in 

Convention of 1787, 19 
Vocational Training, 236 

War, Department of, 145, 162 
Washington, Booker T., ad- 
vice to Negroes, 62 
Washington, George 
President of the Convention 

of 1787, 16 
elected President of U. S., 22, 

298 
character defended, 23 
sacrifice as President, 24 
on amending the constitution, 

43 

attitude toward parties, 72 

delivered annual message in 
person, 108 

cabinet of, 72, 113 

on purpose of bicameral legis- 
lature, 118 



INDEX 



333 



Washington, George — Cont'd 
experience with Senate in ne- 
gotiating treaties, 138 
foreign policy of, 157, 159 

Water Power, federal control 
over, 176 

Waterways, system of, 177 

Ways and Means, House com- 
mittee on, 128, 166 

West Point, military academy, 
161 

White House, cabinet meets in, 

113 

Wigmore, John Henry, pro- 
posal for a chief judicial 
superintendent, 200 
Wilson, Woodrow 

elected President in 19 12, 76 

nominated in Baltimore con- 
vention, 99 

withdraws ambassador from 
Germany, 106 

revives practice of reading 
messages in person, 109 

leader of his party, 1 1 1 

compels Senate to adopt a 
cloture rule, 136 

advice to Presidents on hand- 
ling Senators, 139 

his Fourteen Points and the 
World War, 159 



Wilson, Woodrow — Continued 
leadership of, as Governor of 

New Jersey, 224 
short ballot advocate, 307, 

309, 3io 
Wisconsin 

party committeemen elected 

in primaries, 85 
Legislative Reference Bureau 

in, 217 
Minimum wage commission, 

245 

prosecution by information 
in, 260 

removal of sheriff by Gov- 
ernor, 261 

town-meetings in, 265 

regulation of public utilities, 
291 

primaries in, 305 
Woman Suffrage, amendment 
to U. S. constitution, 42, 

65 
Working-Men's Party, 79 
Workmen's Compensation 

Laws, 246 
World War, influence on U. 

S., 159, 165, 167 
Wyoming, and woman suffrage, 

65 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



012 050 976 7 



I 



